Is Economics education fit for the 21st Century?

The first quarter of the 21st century has seen seismic shifts in the politics, society, and economy of the United Kingdom. As economics thinkers and graduates, Rethinking Economics is concerned that economics education remains out of step with these shifts. What is taught in university classrooms informs how society perceives and will tackle these challenges, from engaging in climate science to the reality of Britain’s colonial past. This report assesses the extent to which university education in this country is equipping students for their future by looking at the education at twenty universities. It does this through analysis of module and course descriptions and with the support of students based at the universities under review. It finds that the scale of the problem is significant and the curriculum at the majority of universities reviewed places more focus on imprinting on students how to ‘think like an economist’ rather than providing them with an actual understanding of how the economy actually works. Nonetheless, two of the universities we reviewed, along with the teaching of critical academics at many of the other institutions reviewed, demonstrate that change is possible. The climate crisis and socio-ecological issues are broadly absent from economic curricula. 75% of universities do not teach any ecological economics; instead, when issues of ecological sustainability are taught, environmental damage is considered as something that needs to be priced into market mechanisms. Economics education does not address historical and contemporary power imbalances. 55% of universities do not provide meaningful teaching on questions of historical slavery, colonialism, or neocolonialism at all. History and ethics are absent from these discussions. Mainstream neoclassical economics dominates the economic theories taught. Of the 480 theory modules we graded, 88.3% of them included mainstream neoclassical economic thinking focusing on rational, self-interested individuals. They are almost entirely taught through quantitative technical skills. Economics is taught in isolation from other social sciences. The discipline of economics should be embedded within the social sciences, and students should be encouraged to learn across other disciplines such as politics, sociology, geography, and history, but for the most part, it remains siloed. There are two programmes that are critical, climate-conscious, and provide an economics education fit for the 21st century. SOAS and the University of Greenwich introduce students to a range of intellectual and methodological perspectives within the economics discipline. They put a learning focus on climate, power, and inequality throughout the course. We are calling for a shift in the values and priorities that underpin our economics education, with a new focus on the climate, inequality, and understanding how the UK economy really works. In addition, this report recommends: #1 Change the way that students are introduced to the discipline of economics Allow students to start their economics education by grappling with the big questions and problems that will define the trajectory of the 21st century. #2 Decarbonise, decolonise and diversify our economic learning Place a new focus on understanding the relationship between environment and economics beyond microeconomic modelling and introduce students to the historical, political and ethical questions surrounding the development of the modern global economy through the lens of global inequality and exploitation. #3 Reform teaching, learning and assessments Encourage debate, discussion and critical thinking in the classroom. Don’t perceive education as the regurgitation of maths and models. #4 Democratise the decision-making over economics education Listen to students and their concerns and engage in productive dialogue.