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  4. May 2023
  5. Can High School Counselors Help the Economics Pipeline?

Can High School Counselors Help the Economics Pipeline?

  • Melissa Gentry
  • Jonathan Meer
  • Danila Serra
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 113, May 2023
(pp. 462-66)
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Abstract

We evaluate the impact of an intervention aimed at informing high school counselors about the field of economics, with the aim of attracting a more diverse student population into the major. Our study involves 234 Texas high schools that send a large number of students to Texas A&M University. Half of the schools were randomly selected and invited to send a guidance counselor to an in-person informational counselor workshop. While the intervention did not significantly increase applications into the major in the full student population, it significantly increased the economics applications of top-performing women and underrepresented minority students.

Citation

Gentry, Melissa, Jonathan Meer, and Danila Serra. 2023. "Can High School Counselors Help the Economics Pipeline?" AEA Papers and Proceedings, 113: 462-66. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231121

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • A21 Economic Education and Teaching of Economics: Pre-college
  • H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I28 Education: Government Policy
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination