Broadening Participation in Economics

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds the participation of undergraduate students in the American Economic Association Summer Training Program. The goal of the AEASTP is to help talented undergraduate students learn skills and conduct research in economics in preparation for studies at the doctoral level. The program is in open to all qualified students regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. Organizers make special efforts to recruit students from groups under-represented in the economics profession. The program combines a research experience with intensive coursework and career mentoring. The program is currently conducted by the University of New Mexico. The road to successful Ph.D. study in economics can be a rocky one, especially for students coming from minority-serving institutions and institutions that do not have a strong research focus. Obstacles include undergraduate economics curricula that are often oriented towards the most popular student career goal - business - than Ph.D. study, a lack of familiarity with the application process, and financial limitations. One consequence is that several important demographic groups are under-represented on economics faculties in the U.S. . AEASTP addresses these roadblocks in a direct way.