Is economics STEM? Process of (re)classification, requirements, and quantitative rigor

Abstract

From 2012 to 2019, the proportion of undergraduate economics degrees denoted as “Econometrics and Quantitative Economics” (STEM-eligible) conferred annually increased from 1 percent to 22 percent. The authors present results from a survey of the 73 institutions conferring at least one STEM-eligible economics degree in 2017 or 2018. They find that most institutions (59%) offer both traditional and STEM-eligible degrees and report needing departmental, college/university committee, and provost/dean approval to (re-)classify. The main motivation for this change is maintaining consistency with an increasingly quantitative discipline (73%). The significant differences in requirements between STEM-eligible and traditional economics degrees are the proportion requiring single variable calculus (91% vs. 69%), multivariable calculus (70% vs. 31%), linear algebra (48% vs. 21%), basic econometrics (96% vs. 77%), and advanced econometrics (48% vs. 8%).