Is economics STEM? Trends in the discipline from 1997 to 2018

Emily Marshall and Anthony Underwood

The Journal of Economic Education, 2020, vol. 51, issue 2, 167-174

Abstract: The authors of this article examine trends in the economics discipline regarding the classification of some undergraduate economics majors, i.e., econometrics and quantitative economics degrees, as STEM. According to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the number of institutions conferring undergraduate econometrics and quantitative economics (STEM-eligible) degrees rose from 25 in 2012 to 71 in 2018, with total degrees conferred increasing 12-fold. By 2018, STEM-eligible economics degrees comprised 13.2 percent of all undergraduate economics degrees conferred, up from just 1.2 percent in 2012. This brief note outlines trends in undergraduate economics majors regarding STEM and non-STEM degree distinctions and discusses potential motivations for these changes.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1080/00220485.2020.1731387

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