Economics Education in Australian Public Universities: An Investigation of the Current State of Play

Abstract

The study of economics has been part of Australian tertiary education from close to its early beginnings, yet this long-standing presence is offset by perceived current challenges in the relevance and strength of the discipline. Using an online content analysis approach, this study analyses current units of study in every Australian public university that provides undergraduate tertiary education in economics. In specific terms, this study offers a detailed analysis of what economics education is currently being taught, together with the types of university entities providing this education. Overall, the analysis presented here reveals that the study of economics might appear relatively strong on the surface, especially, although not unexpectedly, among the elite Group of Eight institutions. However, the study also shows that economics offerings are now being spread across various university entities that do not count economics among their core disciplinary offerings, such as health and environmental science. In addition, several universities have developed new undergraduate degrees incorporating but not focusing exclusively on economics, in most cases seemingly as a means to repackage and extend humanities or social science offerings such as philosophy and political science.