Why Are Liberal Arts Colleges Incubators for Future PhDs?
This program took place on Wednesday, April 22, 2015
What makes a liberal arts education such a springboard to success in economics? Graduates from liberal arts colleges who pursue PhDs in economics are more likely to complete the degree—and do so faster—than graduates of other institution types. In fact, liberal arts colleges (and Carleton in particular) fare well even compared to top research universities. In a recent presentation to the American Economic Association, Carleton economics professors Jenny Bourne and Nathan Grawe offered an explanation based on their research, which Grawe will share during the next Carleton Connects. Because Carleton alumni are part of the “data” in this project, we expect a lively discussion!
About the Speaker
Nathan is a labor economist with particular interests in how family background–from family income to number of siblings–shapes educational and employment outcomes. Many of his works study whether access to financial resources significantly limit these important measures of success. Most recently, Nathan has been forecasting the effects of recent demographic changes (an increasing Hispanic population, migration to the Southwest, and a dramatic drop in the birth rate since the onset of the financial crisis of 2008) on the demand for higher education in the US in aggregate and by geographic region to determine what shifts in investments the country must consider to meet that changing demand.
Nathan has participated in the leadership of Carleton’s Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge (QuIRK) initiative and has shared what Carleton has learned through this initiative through invited talks and led professional development workshops at dozens of colleges and universities across the US and Canada.