Powell, Jeff ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7962-3101 and Yurchenko, Yuliya (2025) Whose history of which economic thought? International Review of Economics Education, 50:100325. ISSN 1477-3880 (Print), 2352-4421 (Online) (doi:10.1016/j.iree.2025.100325)

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Abstract

In many countries, the teaching of the history of economic thought (HET) is on the decline. This is happening despite the fact that calls from students around the world for the reform of economics education have explicitly identified the provision of HET as a priority, and, in the UK, the lead quality assurance agency has described HET as “fundamental” to the understanding of economics. This contradiction provides the motivation for examining the value of HET for students in order to strengthen the case for the expansion of its provision. We reflect on some of the challenges delivering a compulsory HET module at a post-92 UK higher-education institution. How to challenge the white European male bias in the discipline to make the curricula more inclusive and therefore of potentially more interest and relevance to students? Which teaching approaches can provide lasting insights and ignite a passion for the subject in developing young economists? We find that while the impact of our reforms has been ambiguous for engagement and learning outcomes, student surveys reveal a notable appreciation of efforts to address gender and racial bias, and working-class students especially report more impact of the module, changing the way they think about economics.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	history of economic thought, history of economics, Higher Education, decolonization, pedagogical approaches, curricula
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Greenwich Business School > School of Accounting, Finance and Economics
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2025 13:55
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50857

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