What Do Economists Do?
Published: 28 June 2023
On 13 June 2023 the University of Glasgow was delighted to host the Royal Economic Society’s Annual Public Lecture. Established in 2001, the lecture provides an opportunity for young people to discover economics.
What Do Economists Do?
On 13 June 2023 the University of Glasgow was delighted to host the Royal Economic Society’s Annual Public Lecture. Established in 2001, the lecture provides an opportunity for young people to discover economics.
As a key part of this event, Dr Tanya Wilson hosted a visiting day for local schools in the Glasgow University Union.
“We organised the event to raise interest Economics as a profession. Many schools in Scotland do not offer Economics as a subject choice and amongst young people awareness of the wide range of career paths that an Economics degree can lead to is low.” Dr Wilson told us, regarding her motivation behind organising the event.
In the lunchtime session, Dr Wilson brought together secondary school students and economics professionals to answer the pertinent question: what is it that economists actually do?
In attendance at the event were 160 students from 15 schools, 7 of which were from the state sector. They had the opportunity to speak to the economists in a speed-networking style session hailed by teachers as an excellent opportunity: for many, the first time they were able to speak directly with people about working in such a field. More than 10 of these professional economists were University of Glasgow Economics alumni themselves, able to offer first-hand insight into studying the subject at this institution. The event was enjoyed by students, teachers, guests and alumni alike.
“The school student's engagement and enthusiasm made this a fantastic event to be a part of” Ian Halliday (MA Economics, 2019) told us. “I would happily attend again in the future”.
Feedback provided by attendees following the event demonstrated the impact that the lecture and sessions had on the students. Not only did 100% of teachers say that the event raised their students’ understanding and awareness of economics, but there was a significant 16% increase in the proportion of students thinking about studying Economics between the pre-event and the post-event surveys.
We’d like to thank all staff, alumni and schools involved in organising and attending this amazing event, it was a resounding success- despite the Glasgow heatwave! If you’d be interested in attending similar events in the future, keep an eye on our Alumni Events page where we publish relevant information.
For all alumni enquiries, please contact business-alumni@glasgow.ac.uk.
First published: 28 June 2023
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