A Skills-Based Approach to Improving the Economics Curriculum: Insights from Online Job Postings Using Lightcast

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4868640/v1

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A Skills-Based Approach to Improving the Economics Curriculum: Insights from Online Job Postings Using Lightcast

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4868640/v1

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The college classroom must constantly change to match curriculum with labor market demands. For economics degrees, the focus has been on critical and analytical thinking. Are these still relevant for today's entry-level jobs? To find out, we analyzed job postings using data from Lightcast. Frequently listed skills for economics majors include communication, management, research, and software skills like Microsoft Excel. This study aims to inform changes in tertiary economics education that preserve economic theory while providing students with skills to succeed in the workplace. We provide one example of how Lightcast data can inform the future of higher education curriculum.

What is the purpose of higher education? While the question appears easy on the surface, the answer may depend on who you ask. Based on an extensive review of the literature between 2000 and 2016, [Chan 2016] concludes that higher education institutions define their purpose in terms of societal goals, viewing education as a public good. In contrast, undergraduates tend to focus more on benefits accrued at the individual level, seeing education as a private good. The misalignment between the goals of institutions and society compared to those of students may well be demonstrated with rising scepticism over the value of higher education and a shift toward more applied, hands-on learning [Trinidad et al. 2023].

Economics degrees are an interesting case study in that the degree generally lacks a standardized test or occupational licencing (like the CPA exam or nursing boards), providing faculty flexibility in the skills taught to students. Despite this flexibility, most economics degrees emphasize the development of critical and analytical thinking skills, with goals to create problem solvers and future leaders capable of making sound decisions [Borg and Borg 2001; Colander and McGoldrick 2010; Siegfried and Colander 2022]. The extent to which these skills translate into short run success in the labor market for entry level students, however, is still unclear.

Historically, economics graduates are relatively successful by midcareer. Among individuals with only undergraduate degrees, economics majors generally earn higher salaries compared to those with other majors [Black et al. 2003]. One study reported that U.S. workers aged 40 with undergraduate degrees in economics had a median salary of $90,000 in 2018, significantly higher compared to the median salary of $65,000 for those who majored in other social sciences (psychology, sociology, etc.) and $66,000 for those with degrees in fields other than economics (such as art, education, and legal studies) [Bleemer and Mehta 2022].

However, with rapidly growing technology, increasing numbers of college graduates [Statistica 2023], and a labor market that is constantly changing, economics faculty may need to re-evaluate program goals to better align with the demands students will face. In other words, the successful patterns of students who graduated nearly 2 decades ago may not be sufficient in proving the fate graduates will realize 20 years from now.

The question arises, what are the skills currently in demand for individuals who pursued economics degrees? Our duty as faculty is to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge for success in the professional world, beginning with expected entry-level jobs for current students. Without an understanding of the current job market and the skills required for entry-level positions, we run the risk of failing to provide students with the necessary tools to succeed or ensuring that our curriculum remains relevant and prepares students for the labor market. As a secondary question, even when faculty provide relevant and important skills, are students and recent graduates on the job market accurately representing themselves and their skillsets when marketing themselves on sites like LinkedIn?

We seek to answer these questions using unique data from Lightcast [Lightcast^™ 2022]. To our knowledge, previous researchers have not focused on jobs appropriate for economics majors, expanding the use of these data to a new set of occupations and increasing its applicability to our students in particular. Second, we examine both the common (soft) skills as well as the technical skills frequently listed in job postings. Finally, we analyse information for those likely to have graduate degrees separately from those likely without graduate degrees, as well as focus on entry level positions most applicable to our recent graduates.

We first explore relevant literature on the mismatch between the goals of higher education and the expectations of students. Then, we describe a unique set of data obtained from Lightcast, analyse job postings for economics-related entry-level and other jobs and online profiles of individuals working in or seeking those positions, and present our results. We discuss our findings and conclude with recommendations as to how economics faculty might better prepare students for the job market realities they will face.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Higher education faces challenges on multiple fronts, but among them may be a mismatch between institutional goals and student preferences, according to Chan [2016]. In an environment where people are questioning the value of four-year degrees [Gates Foundation 2023] or losing confidence in higher education [Brenan 2023], colleges and universities are increasingly faced with the challenge of proving their worth. Institutions often point to both the economic benefits directly experienced by college graduates and what some have described as “non-economic” benefits, including soft skills, critical thinking, and intrapersonal skills [Menges and Austin 2001]. Chan [2016] suggests that universities “appear to focus on universal objectives aimed at reforming society and the individual cognitive skills and communicative agendas” while students are more interested in personal growth and opportunities, meeting family expectations, and achieving a certain level of economic stability and standing.

Perhaps this mismatch between institutional goals and student preferences filters down into economics course work and degree plans. Economics undergraduates are often taught skills that include an emphasis on analytical and critical thinking, proficiency in data analysis and interpretation, and the ability to communicate complex economic concepts effectively. Depending on coursework, there may be applications involving public policy, current events, and a broad understanding of human behaviour. The economics degree is often touted by those teaching in the discipline as providing a versatile or flexible foundation, one which will allow students to choose from a wide range of high-demand, good paying jobs across a variety of industries or sectors. Economics and Business Economics degrees are the only two non-STEM degrees among the top 25 highest earning majors [Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond 2022].

That said, there is not a clear set of skills or a set career path provided to students to make a direct connection between economics curriculum and the private benefits today’s students might expect from completion of a college degree. A survey conducted in the U.S. in 2019, which included 248,000 college graduates, revealed that the most common complaint among those with economics degrees was a lack of practical skills for post-college careers [PayScale 2023]. Geography may explain some of the graduates’ concerns. The labor market for economics graduates might look very different when comparing opportunities in places such as New York, California, or Washington, DC to most other metropolitan areas in the U.S. [Winters and Xu 2014].

While it appears that an economics degree does lead to considerably higher wages [Bleemer and Mehta 2022], much of the difference occurs a few years after graduation. Immediately following graduation, students may struggle to identify appropriate entry level positions or prefer that they had acquired additional hard skills in their degree. Another possibility is that entry-level jobs have changed as more Americans complete college. In 1960, only 7.7% of Americans held college degrees; by 2020, that figure was 37.5% [Statistica, 2023]. The National Center for Education Statistics [NCES 2023] also reports that the proportion of individuals aged 25 and older who hold a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 24% in 1990 to 36% in 2000, and then to 42% by 2019 [NCES 2023]. As the proportion of individuals holding a bachelor's degree or higher has risen, it is possible employer expectations for entry-level positions have shifted, characterized by a greater emphasis on specific skill sets and a reduced expectation for decision making ability. Graduates may not be alone in recognizing that programs are struggling to keep pace with changes in skills demanded by today’s employers. In an attempt to reduce the gap, accrediting agencies such as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) are updating their own standards and goals to include greater focus on emerging technologies [AACSB 2022]

It is also important to consider human resource theories behind the construction of targeted job postings. Organizations likely adopt competency models to understand the specific skills needed for successful performance in a particular role [Campion et al. 2011]. These models influence their word choice when soliciting applications, and their job postings, therefore, are a reliable source of data as they relate to desired skills. Since competency models are used to develop job ads, the authors believe an analysis of job ads should provide insight into the competencies that employers value. An analysis of online job ads is seen as having three crucial advantages: (1) employers are actively recruiting people with identified skills, (2) it can cover a large sample of jobs, and (3) the data can be analysed using various job characteristics, such as years of experience and college major [Rios et al. 2020].

Prior research using content analysis of job ads provides key insights for majors and career paths in areas such as accounting [Dunbar et al. 2016], data science [Radovilsky et al. 2018; Ryan et al. 2019; Verma et al. 2019], human resources [McCartney et al. 2021], and organizational research [Sodhi and Son 2010], with a growing number of other programs looking to do the same. Research is possible through organizations such as Lightcast, a labor market analytics firm, which provides labor market insights and select data to organizations and educators through software applications.

Given the theories behind the construction of job postings, linking the explicitly desired skills in relevant job ads to the market for those who studied economics could provide a foundation to faculty hoping to improve outcomes such as employment following graduation. It also allows faculty the opportunity to better connect curriculum with skills in demand, and demonstrate that relevance to current students. Without an understanding of the current job market and the skills required particularly for entry-level positions, we run the risk of failing to provide our students with the necessary tools to succeed. In the section that follows, we describe data obtained from this unique source containing specific skill requirements for prospective entry-level positions for economics majors as well as other economics-related occupations.

Overview

The data used in this study were collected using one of Lightcast’s education tools, “Analyst,” designed specifically for the creation of new or improvement of existing higher education programs. Lightcast Analyst aggregates and curates job advertisements from a variety of job boards, labor data, and profiles from sites such as LinkedIn. It then aggregates them into a searchable database where the data can be searched by several job characteristics, such as job title, education requirements, and experience level. Lightcast Analyst attempts to remove all duplicate data from the results and aggregates the results into categories.

To best understand the labor market conditions our students and recent graduates are facing, we examine three different groups of economics or economics-related occupations. For each group, we collected aggregate data from 2010 (the first year available through Lightcast) through 2022. In addition, we pulled data from 2022 alone, the most recent full year available at the time of data collection, to highlight current trends. For each group of occupations, we first capture the top 10 most frequently required skills on 2022 postings. We show the percent of 2022 postings that mentioned each skill, in addition to the skill’s ranking. As a secondary statistic, we disclose the percent of postings that mentioned that same skill when all available sample years (2010 through 2022) are queried within the software. Then, we repeat this analysis for the 10 most frequently cited software skills.

Finally, for each group of occupations and each set of skills, we estimate the 2022 skill gaps for each category, as measured by the percent of worker profiles that include the skill minus the percent of postings that do. Here, negative (positive) values represent evidence the skill is in deficit (surplus) among relevant workers. Two different skill gaps are estimated, one using worker profiles who currently work within the given occupation (hereafter, the “gap in the profession”) and one using all available profiles of economics majors (hereafter, the “econ major gap”). A skill that is in deficit in both the profession and among economics majors could signify a significant opportunity for pedagogical improvement, for example.

The scope of our analysis is largely limited to the aforementioned statistics due to what information Lightcast makes available. The cloud-based software allows for queries that output certain statistics but does not allow the researcher to view or obtain the underlying datasets that produce those statistics. We also advise the reader to remain cognizant of the limitations of the available statistics. Perhaps most importantly, not all workers mention all their skills on their profile. Thus, in the example case of a negative skill gap (workers less often report the skill than it is listed on job postings), part of the gap likely arises from workers simply not mentioning that skill on their profile, though they do have it. However, this still represents a pedagogical opportunity, where students can be better taught which of their skills they should mention on online profiles, résumés, and job applications. Similarly, it cannot be considered certain that a given job posting lists all valuable, or even requisite, skills.

Occupational groups

Three occupation groups are analysed. The first and most specific group is composed of all listings where “economist” is in the job title. This includes jobs such as economist, research economist, agricultural economist, health economist, and environmental economist. A total of 83,868 such postings were found during the full sample period (2010-22) and 8,710 in the most recent labor market year (2022), specifically. The top city for these jobs is Washington, DC, followed by New York City, though California ranks first when aggregating by state. The average advertised annual salary in 2022 was $97,637 (Dec. 2022 USD) in this sample of postings.

Many of the jobs in the first set likely require graduate degrees in economics or a related field, but for many institutions, the majority of students do not pursue graduate work (at least not in economics) shortly after graduation. As such, we expand our set of jobs to include options that do not all require an advanced degree.

The second and broadest occupation group includes all listings for jobs that are commonly obtained by workers with a degree in economics, based on occupational category research conducted at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS 2023] and the employment website Indeed [Indeed 2023]. For brevity, we refer to this occupation group as “econ major jobs.” These jobs include those with economist in the title plus actuaries, budget analysts, credit analysts, data scientists, economic (and related) consultants, financial analysts, loan officers, market research analysts, mathematicians, statisticians, operations research analysts, personal financial advisors, policy analysts, survey researchers, quantitative analysts, and urban and regional planners. Use of these external job lists saved the authors from making potentially subjective calls as to which occupations should be included. For 2022, 5,132,938 postings were found for this broad occupational group, while for the full sample period (2010-22), that sample size grows to 46,543,441 postings. New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are the top three locales for these posted openings. As with occupations with “economist” in the title, when aggregating to the state level, California is first. The average advertised annual salary in 2022 was $74,859 (Dec. 2022 USD) in this broad sample of economics-related postings. Though Indeed specializes in online job postings and became the highest trafficked U.S. job website in 2010, the BLS list may be considered more formal, and possibly reliable, given the agency’s federal status. Thus, in the appendix, we present results from an otherwise identical analysis but where job categories only found on Indeed’s list are excluded.

The third and final occupational group is a subset of the second group, consisting only of job postings that require only a bachelor's degree and no prior work experience. For brevity, we refer to this group as “entry-level econ jobs.” For faculty wishing to refine their undergraduate economics program specifically, results from this list are possibly the most valuable of the three. However, findings from the wider range of occupational categories could be more desirable for academic institutions that provide graduate-level economics programs and/or have a high proportion of undergraduate students who pursue advanced studies. The 2022 (2010–2022) sample size for this final group is 9,800 (29,755). In the 2022 entry-level job postings sample, the average advertised salary was $65,872. Geographically speaking, the common locales of these jobs are very similar to the broader sample. Results from each of the three analyses are presented in the following section. For ease in understanding the set of results that follow, we provide a brief glossary of relevant terms in Table 1.

Table 1

Description of Occupational Groups
Occupational group	Description
Occupational group 1	Jobs listings with the word “Economist” in the title
Occupational group 2	Jobs listings based on the BLS and Indeed’s career recommendations for those with a degree in economics
Occupational group 3	Jobs listings based on the BLS and Indeed’s career recommendations for those with a degree in economics - restricted to those that only require a bachelor’s degree and zero work experience
Gap in the profession	Difference between the frequency online worker profiles in those occupations mention having a skill and the frequency for which that skill appears on job postings (within the designated group)
Econ major gap	Difference between the frequency online worker profiles with an economics degree mention having a skill and the frequency for which that skill appears on job postings (within the designated group)

Occupational group 1: Jobs with “economist” in the title

Our analysis begins by examining the skills most frequently listed for jobs containing the word “economist” in the title in Fig. 1a. For this narrowly defined occupational group which likely includes careers for those with a graduate degree, the significance of research at the top of the list (and forecasting further down the list) is not surprising. There is a significant emphasis on communication, with skills such as writing and presentation also appearing in the top 10. Additional skills may be related to experience, such as management, consulting, and planning. Nine of these skills occur more frequently on postings in 2022 than they did during the 2010–2022 time period, with communication only down slightly. Of these ten, the ordering has also remained largely consistent over time, with Microsoft Excel rising in significance in 2022 compared to its earlier ranking.

Figure 1b presents the skill gaps between those in the profession and those with economics degrees relative to the frequency with which skills are mentioned in 2022 job postings. We recognize the limitations of this piece particularly for individuals that may be older, more experienced, and more highly educated, but we believe that this analysis still sheds light on what professionals might be missing from their profiles as opposed to lacking in skills. For example, the data suggest that for all 10 skills, there is a deficit for those currently working within the profession. The magnitude of the deficits, however, varies significantly and may say something about the skills those in this occupational group think are important versus those that are important to prospective employers. Communication, for example, is listed as a requisite skill on approximately 41% of job postings in 2022, but only 5% of profiles for individuals working in these jobs list communications as a skill, thus creating a deficit of 36%. Other large deficits for the profession include skills such as writing, planning, and management - skills that many in the profession likely have but fail to see as relevant when creating a professional profile.

Those with an economics degree show deficits in eight of the ten categories, although the magnitude and ranking of these deficits differ from those in the profession. They were significantly less likely to report research as a skill than those in the profession, but more likely to list all other skills. For two skills, leadership and Microsoft Excel, those with an economics degree actually reported these skills more often on their profiles than these skills are listed in job postings. The differences in the skill gaps highlights the differences between the groups considered “working in the profession” for occupational group 1 and those that are “economics majors.”

Figures 2a and 2b repeat this analysis, this time restricting the skills to those determined as “software skills.” Regarding the most in-demand software skills, Fig. 2a shows Microsoft Excel as the most demanded skill in 2022, appearing in 19% of job postings, followed by R, SQL, and Python, between 14.5% and 17% each, demonstrating that not a single software program dominates for this group. Of the ten, eight relate closely to data analysis and programming. The frequency of job postings containing these software skills increased for 9 out of 10 software programs in 2022 relative to the average inclusion of these skills between 2010 and 2022, demonstrating the growing significance of research and data analysis for this occupational group.

The skill gaps shown in Fig. 2b are a little more difficult to interpret. While the gaps are smaller, we are subtracting these from smaller percentages found in Fig. 2a as well. Overall, it appears that those in the profession and economics majors generally fail to list software skills at the same frequency with which they are mentioned with a few notable exceptions. Economics majors are more likely to list Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office as skills relative to those in the profession and the skills’ frequencies in job postings. Those in the profession are more likely to list Stata and to a lesser extent, Microsoft Office. In general, it appears that economics majors are less likely to list some of the more technical data analysis tools and more likely to list some of the Microsoft products and data visualization tools than those working in these professions, again highlighting what might be a significant difference in educational attainment between these groups.

Occupational group 2: All economics major jobs according to BLS and Indeed

Switching to the broad occupational group of all econ major jobs, Fig. 3a presents the top 10 posted skills. We find a change in the ordering as well as the composition of the top 10. Most notably, the frequency with which research appears drops significantly from almost 60% to under 25%, leaving communication at the top of the list. We also see three new skills enter the top 10 - operations, detail oriented, and sales - replacing presentations, forecasting, and consulting. There is also less variation across the top 10 in this set, likely the result of a broader set of jobs requiring more varied skill sets than those which likely require graduate degrees.

As shown in Fig. 3b, the estimated skill gaps, both within the profession and among economics majors, are the largest for communication. For the remaining skills, the gaps, where they exist, are smaller in magnitude than they were for the first occupational group. Profiles for those in the profession still show gaps in all 10 skills, but for economics majors, there are five skills for which there are surpluses: management, leadership, research, Excel, and sales. That half of the estimated skill gaps are positive for economics majors and that none within the profession are positive implies an economics degree is a better-than-average choice for these occupations, that economics majors’ better market themselves on their profiles, or both.

Turning to the top software skills for all econ-type jobs, we see in Fig. 4a a clear dominance of Microsoft Excel, Office, and PowerPoint. This dominance is not surprising given the reliance on Microsoft products. Profiles are also more likely to list Microsoft products as skills, with econ majors even more likely than the set working in this occupational group. We see positive skill gaps for economics majors in Excel, Office, PowerPoint, and Word. Within the profession, we see positive gaps for Word and Office, but negative gaps for all other software. This again shows that economics majors on average appear to be better equipped for these jobs or tend to list more relevant skills than the full set of those working in these jobs.

Occupational group 3: Entry-level economics jobs

Figures 5a and 5b focus on entry-level econ jobs, a subset of occupational group 2 in which the online postings specify zero work experience and only a bachelor’s degree is required. Referring to the top 10 most frequently listed skills presented in Fig. 5a, there are only two that have not shown up on the previous lists, Microsoft Office and customer service. Leadership and Planning fell off the top 10 list, likely the result of these jobs targeting less experienced workers. Communication is still the most demanded skill with research, management, detail-oriented, and Excel also ranking high. The frequency at which skills are listed, however, changes compared to occupational group 2. Most notable are the increases in excess of 10% for the skills of Microsoft Excel, Research, and Detail oriented, likely reflecting the growing significance of data analysis, particularly for recent graduates.

The largest skill gap for these entry-level jobs is again communication both within the profession and among economics majors, followed by detailed-oriented skills. Interestingly, there is a skill gap for Microsoft Excel that was not present in the previous set. Note that Microsoft Excel was listed in just over 20% of postings in occupational group 2, but in the subset of postings requiring no experience, that percentage increases to 31%. Jobs for recent graduates are more likely to expect knowledge of Microsoft Excel than the larger set of job postings, and both those in the profession and those with economics degrees are not listing Microsoft Excel as a skill with the same frequency at which it is demanded for these positions targeting new graduates. Unfortunately, we cannot limit our analysis to profiles of recent economics graduates to determine if their skill sets more closely align with this set of postings.

Figure 6a shows the top demanded software skills for entry-level econ jobs, with Microsoft Products again dominating the list. With only one small change (SAS instead of Python), the list is similar to that in 4a for occupational group 2 (jobs for economics majors). Again, we see the frequency of Microsoft Excel increased about 10%, with smaller increases in Microsoft Office and PowerPoint. Although SAS makes the list of top 10, its frequency along with that of SAP in 2022 is markedly lower than the frequency over the aggregated sample from 2010–2022, demonstrating the declining significance of both software programs.

Turning to the skills gap in Fig. 6b, we find that the increases for select skills, although relatively small in magnitude, are enough such that most surpluses from Fig. 4b have disappeared. Both those in the profession and those with economics degrees report almost all software skills less frequently than these same skills appear in job postings. Notable exceptions include Microsoft Word, which economics majors are more likely to list than those in the profession, and SAS, a likely reflection that previous graduates learned a software skill that new positions are no longer requiring.

Understanding the needs of employers can help reshape curriculum to better serve current students, meet accreditation standards, and regain the trust of students who fail to see a connection between the classroom and the job market that awaits. In this section of the paper, we highlight some of the skills referenced above, and offer our thoughts or solutions as to how we might, as a profession of economics educators, close some of the observed gaps. To facilitate a more organized discussion, we have grouped some of the previous skills above into broader categories. Note that some skills are included in multiple categories.

Communication

Communication skills here include written and oral communication, sales, customer service, presentations, and consulting. While programs are eager to include additional technical skills, we caution any program against cutting the development of softer skills to make room for other goals. Regardless of the level, communication in its various forms remained an important requirement for job applicants. Emphasizing the importance of communication, teamwork, and leadership skills in the classroom helps prepare students for the professional world. It is not enough to emphasize such skills and use them in the classroom; our students must be informed that such skills are important enough to list them on résumés and professional profiles such as LinkedIn. The soft skills should not be viewed as secondary to the more technical skills given the prevalence in which they appear in job postings.

Research

Research skills here include software such as Microsoft Excel, Tableau, presentations, consulting, writing, forecasting, and detail orientation. The frequency with which research appears is most notable in the first occupational group (“economist” jobs) and the third occupational group (entry-level positions). The prominence of research in the first group is not surprising, and despite the gaps found in profiles, individuals with advanced degrees in economics or related fields likely have these skills regardless of what is reported on profiles. The more interesting finding is that research is more prominent in the entry-level jobs than the broader set, indicating that employers are indeed looking for hard skills in their new hires. Entry-level employees are unlikely to be making big decisions and instead are more likely responsible for research and data analysis addressing a specific question formulated by a more experienced team leader.

To assist our students who want to head down a path involving more research and data analytics, we should be more intentional about incorporating research projects that culminate in written reports and oral presentations into our coursework. Students should continue to learn Microsoft Excel but also be exposed to newer technologies such as Tableau or public domain software like R that are more easily transferable from one company to another. Our students need to feel comfortable working with data on various platforms, and combined with skill 1 above, communicating their findings in various formats to give them the widest selection of potential job opportunities.

Management

Management skills here include leadership, planning, and operations. The prominence of management and operations among entry-level jobs was somewhat surprising, but more expected was the inclusion of these two along with leadership and planning in occupational group 2. Those with economics degrees also report these skills more often than the general group of those working within the profession. Given that our focus in economics programs often falls on critical and analytical thinking, it is likely that we are educating our students for mid-career success. Recent graduates are not using the skills we teach because they are rarely in the position to determine prices, allocate expenditures across labor and capital, or make management decisions. As such, they may struggle to connect our curriculum with early career opportunities. Curricula should clearly identify which skills might be helpful in the more immediate time period and which are likely to help them advance faster or higher relative to those who study something other than economics.

Software skills

Programs should continue to emphasize Microsoft Excel as its dominance seems unlikely to fade. At the same time, coursework should expose students to a number of other options. We should encourage students to pursue certifications or other learning opportunities to better familiarize themselves with programs that seem most aligned with their future career goals. LinkedIn Learning or tutorials on YouTube may be sufficient. Given the number of emerging technologies in this area and the small frequencies of the non-Microsoft programs in the included statistics, flexibility may be best - but students should be encouraged to pick at least one or two programs other than Microsoft Excel and demonstrate proficiency in their choices.

These lists are not all encompassing, and again, we want to recognize that some of the deficiencies noted in this study may be as much about a failure to advertise one’s skills as they are an actual skill deficit. What we need to do is find a way to bridge the skills and curriculum that we know to be important with the skills that will help students find their first professional jobs while simultaneously preparing them for long-run success in the labor market, and we believe the notes above are a first step.

Higher education may be at a pivotal point. Between increased scepticism regarding the value of higher education, the cost of student loans, and large businesses as well as some state and local governments dropping college education requirements for some positions, higher education may need to re-examine the role it plays in an institutional, individual, and societal context. There exists a mismatch between the expectations of students and educators, with the gap in economics perhaps larger than in other disciplines. A shift to skills-based employment and the view of higher education as the mechanism for learning specific skills needed to secure employment may indicate that we re-evaluate our approaches to economic education. With the outcome of higher education essentially synonymous with successful job placement, we contend that a review of job postings deemed suitable for our graduates is essential to understanding the labor market in which our students have or will soon enter. The difficulty arises in that jobs for students in our discipline are not as easily identified as those occupations for students in other areas.

We began our analysis by examining occupational group 1, job postings that contain the word “economist.” We believe that the vast majority of these positions require advanced degrees, and thus the skills are largely centred on research, leadership, and consulting. Such jobs are unlikely to apply to those with only an undergraduate degree and/or minimal experience, and are thus less relevant to the majority of students we serve today. Our second and third groups focus on a broader set of jobs listed on accessible websites such as BLS.gov and Indeed.com as appropriate for economics majors, with the third group a subset of the second, those requiring no related work experience and only a bachelor’s degree. Despite many economics programs’ focus on critical thinking and problem solving, these skills did not make the top 10 for any of these sets. (The skills are listed on some postings, but with such low frequency that they never broke into the top 10.) Instead, we find that employers still prioritize strong communication skills, with applied research and knowledge of statistical software packages edging out softer skills associated with problem solving. The skills gap analyses also demonstrate where there might be room for improvement, either with a change to what/how we teach or how our students’ and graduates’ market themselves.

At the end of the day, we are judged by various entities. As programs, we are judged by accrediting agencies and the larger institution. More importantly, we are judged by our students and graduates with regards to the value of the degree we provided them. That value is influenced by the employers who hire our new graduates. They are the ones who determine whether or not the skills taught in our programs are adequate to solve problems in the workplace. This paper provides an in depth look into the skills most frequently valued according to unique job postings, and we hope our results will encourage greater discussion of the necessary skills we impart on our students.

Author Contribution

G.O.: Conceptualization, Writing, Review & EditingA.W.: Conceptualization, Writing, Review & Editing.P.R.: Data Curation, Methodology, Data Analysis.A.S: Data Analysis, Writing, Review & EditingK.H: Validation, Funding Acquisition, Review & Editing

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You are reading this latest preprint version

A Skills-Based Approach to Improving the Economics Curriculum: Insights from Online Job Postings Using Lightcast

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Version 1

Abstract

Figures

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

METHODS

Overview

Occupational groups

RESULTS

Occupational group 1: Jobs with “economist” in the title

Occupational group 2: All economics major jobs according to BLS and Indeed

Occupational group 3: Entry-level economics jobs

DISCUSSION

Communication

Research

Management

Software skills

CONCLUSION

Declarations

Author Contribution

References

Additional Declarations

Supplementary Files

Status:

Version 1