The proportion of girls taking HSC economics has tumbled to its lowest level in three decades, while the overall share of students enrolled in the subject has this year dipped below 8 per cent.
Teachers say making commerce compulsory in years 9 and 10 could boost economics numbers in senior years and help close the “confidence gap” that can emerge in mid to late high school.
University of Cambridge law student Lucy Koder, who topped HSC economics in 2021, said the course – viewed by some university students as “difficult, dull and boring” – is often perceived as less vocational than business studies.
Cheltenham Girls High School students Roxanne Denham, Saskia Chariton and Ayla Yasrebi after the economics exam on Tuesday.Credit: Wolter Peeters
But the image problem is unfair, she says. “Economics is hugely useful – it teaches you to think critically and independently. For students interested in policy, politics and law, they probably should be doing economics in high school.”
Girls comprise a third of HSC economics enrolments this year, down from almost 50 per cent in the early 1990s. The trend echoes the steep decline in overall students taking the subject, which is at 5787 this year – or just 7.7 per cent of the HSC cohort.
Enrolments have collapsed as more students opt to take business studies, which is seen as easier and this year surged to nearly 21,000 students enrolled.
Koder said that while many students at her former girls private school studied economics, she worries that perceptions about difficulty or tall poppy syndrome in co-educational schools might lead girls who would excel in the course to turn away from it.
Chantal Young, an economics teacher at girls private school Ascham, said the course allows students to engage with and debate current affairs and use critical thinking skills.
Chantal Young says mandating commerce in years 9 and 10 could help boost economics enrolments in senior years. Credit: James Brickwood
“I’ve noticed that students who have pre-conceived ideas about topics will change their minds in economics lessons. There aren’t many HSC subjects that allow students to unpack issues like tax rates, voting and trade policies, and allow them to debate topical issues which is so valuable right now,” she said.
Young said mandating a commerce course, which could include civics and financial literacy, in years 9 and 10 – and investing in economics teacher training – would help lift enrolments.
A Reserve Bank of Australia paper released this year found the size and diversity of economics students has plunged in the past three decades, while the number of public schools offering the course has dwindled.
In 2018, Danielle Wood, now chair of the Productivity Commission, wrote that teams of similar people – in gender, race, age and class – perform poorly due to their narrow range of perspectives, being more likely to lapse into “group think” where bad ideas go unchallenged.
“In economics, gender has been shown to influence perspectives on thorny policy questions,” Wood wrote in a paper on the need for more female economists.
Enrolments are declining as teachers warn proposed changes to the NSW economics syllabus – which ramps up maths and adds dozens of equations and calculations – could make the gender imbalance worse or push students away.
The new syllabus, under review for the first time in 15 years, will be released at the end of the year.
At public schools Macarthur Girls High and Cheltenham Girls High, economics enrolments have steadily increased. This year both schools have two year 12 classes.
Cheltenham student Roxanne Denham, who sat the HSC economics exam on Tuesday, said she always wanted to study the course because “it’s not just a subject, it’s a life skill” which informed her understanding of the global economy and public policy.
Her classmate, Ayla Yasrebi, said: “Students hear a lot about science subjects, but I didn’t really know that economics existed as an HSC subject, and as soon as I found out about it, I knew I wanted to do it.”
“Because of all the talk about tariffs this year, everyone was expecting an exam question on protection, so I was relieved when it was there,” she said.
Macarthur Girls High has increased their economics enrolments and has two classes this year.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Experts warn a growing uniformity among economics students – including fewer girls and fewer students from disadvantaged backgrounds – means more support should be given to economics teachers, especially in regional schools where teachers might be operating outside their area of expertise.
Tanya Livermore, who leads the education team at the RBA, said research showed there was a “confidence gap” for girls in economics.
“We’ve found that when we ask year 11 and 12 students to rate their economics ability, girls rate their ability lower than boys do, and this confidence gap remains even after adjusting for how well they actually did on a set of economics questions.”
Livermore said the drop in economics students was partly due to the “huge displacement effect” which occurred with the rise of the business studies course over the past 30 years.
“The all-girls school factor is important too, because, in co-ed schools, if economics becomes known a subject known as having mostly boys, then that can perpetuate whereas at an all-girls school that factor isn’t there,” she added.
Another RBA study found lower enrolments in university economics courses among female students had persisted even though girls consistently outperformed males in ATAR scores, and so were less likely to have a “performance gap” deterring them from enrolling in an economics degree.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in National
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
