Using popular science talks to foster interest in Economics among high school students

Abstract

The declining interest in Economics majors in many countries among high school students and the lack of diversity of undergraduates in this field have recently become a source of concern for the academic community. In contrast with previous research examining nterventions to increase the interest in Economics mostly involving impersonal communication, this work, using a sample of Spanish students, explores the impact of popular science talks targeted at upper-secondary education pupils. Our results suggest that this intervention involving personal interaction with students effectively draws the attention of high school learners to Economics. Although there seems to be no difference in its impact according to the students’ characteristics, the greater diversity of the pupil population in secondary education compared to higher education suggests that this intervention might enhance the diversity of the pool of young people studying Economics.