Models of undergraduate research in economics: Advice from eight exemplary programs

A productive research experience can be the highpoint of the undergraduate curriculum for an economics major, allowing the student to employ the tools economists use in richer and more complex ways. In our 2016 poll of economics departments at the top 30 liberal arts colleges and the top 30 national universities (based on U.S. News and World Report 2017 rankings), we find that almost all departments provide an undergraduate research experience in some form because their faculty share a belief that research is integral to the field of economics and vital to the development of a well-rounded economics major (Hoyt and McGoldrick 2017). Students have the opportunity to hypothesize, analyze, interpret, and create using the tools of economists while also developing general skills such as writing, presenting, managing time, and working with others. There is consensus among the top programs queried: resources invested into a well-designed undergraduate research program can lead to human capital accumulation that is valued by graduate programs and employers alike.

In our study of the top programs, we gathered information regarding what motivates programs to include a research component, how prevalent undergraduate research is and the forms it takes, what departments view as obstacles to undergraduate research, the creative ways that departments foster research in light of resource constraints, and the steps departments take to create a culture of research. While our departmental survey yielded many interesting methods of promoting undergraduate research, we chose a select few to describe their experience and provide a more in-depth perspective. To that end, this symposium includes articles written by faculty at two leading liberal arts colleges, Macalester College and Wellesley College, as well as three top national universities including the University of Chicago, Dartmouth University, and Princeton University. Our choice of those programs to include in this symposium in no way suggests that the other programs could not have contributed similarly.

Additionally, in May of 2015, economists from three institutions with outstanding undergraduate economics programs participated in a panel discussion at the American Economic Association's Conference on Teaching and Research on Economic Education that focused on partnerships with other units on campus to facilitate undergraduate economic research and writing. The final article in this symposium is authored by economists and representatives from these other campus units at the University of California at Berkeley, Barnard College, and Carleton College.

We also refer readers to a 2015 symposium in the Journal of Economic Education that was assembled to allow a response to Stock and Siegfried (2015), who documented the undergraduate origins of PhD economists. Four “top producing” programs contributed to that collection, and each piece includes a brief description of the role undergraduate research plays in the success of the undergraduate programs in these departments (University of California-Berkeley [Olney 2015]; Carleton College [Bourne and Grawe 2015]; Harvard University [Gajwani and Miron 2015]; and Swarthmore College [Jefferson and Magenheim 2015]). Additionally, Reyes (2010) provided a perspective on research skill acquisition processes facilitated by a senior seminar experience at Amherst College.

We hope that you find this collection of pieces useful as you consider the research you ask your students to conduct in classes you teach, and as you consider the broader role that economic research plays in the undergraduate experience of your majors. In each article in this symposium, authors offer detailed descriptions of their research programs and a wealth of practical advice for programs that wish to follow suit. A reading of the collection as a whole imparts the importance of a research component in our undergraduate programs for breathing life into what we do and creating majors who are lifelong learners with a passion for what economists bring to the table.