Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/236449 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14418
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We assess whether a light-touch intervention can increase socioeconomic and racial diversity in undergraduate Economics. We randomly assigned over 2,200 students a message with basic information about the Economics major; the basic message combined with an emphasis on the rewarding careers or financial returns associated with the major; or no message. Messages increased the proportion of first generation and underrepresented minority (URM) students majoring in Economics by five percentage points. This effect size was sufficient to reverse the gap in Economics majors between first generation/URM students and students not in these groups. Effect sizes were larger and more precise for better-performing students and first generation students. Extrapolating to the full sample, the treatment would double the proportion of first generation and underrepresented minority students majoring in Economics.
Subjects: 
college major choice
diversity in economics
higher education
nudges
randomized control trial
JEL: 
I21
I23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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