Recruiting via the Core: A Nontraditional Introduction to Economic Thinking

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Students often choose to major in economics after being introduced to the discipline through principles courses. Most of these courses cover the same general material, with an emphasis on theories and models. We offer general education courses that introduce economic thinking without emphasizing economic models or theories. Instead, these courses focus on critical thinking, social and economic issues, and ideologies. We find evidence that exposure to a first-year critical-thinking course taught by a member of the Department of Economics and Finance increases the probability that a student will choose to major in economics.