Economics Careers

This is a 10 page book chapter, one result of a large National Science Foundation study. It details what people with Economics majors do in the working world -- it contains information on employers, types of jobs, salaries, and so forth. It also includes 3 additional pages listing the average salaries earned by those with various majors. Economics salaries are 9th highest (after physics and 7 types of engineering).

"College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs" by Neeta P. Fogg, Paul E. Harrington, Thomas F. Harrington, 2nd edition, 2004, JIST Publishing. ISBN 1593570740.

NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers):

NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) has lots of information for new job seekers. NACE also gives periodic updates on starting salaries for recent graduates, as does CNN sometimes. The first link below goes to a CNN article about starting salaries for Economics majors and others. The next three are from NACE, also looking at starting salaries.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/04/28/cb.salaries.grads/index.html

http://www.naceweb.org/press/display.asp?year=2009&prid=305

http://www.naceweb.org/press/display.asp?year=2007&prid=256

http://naceweb.org/press/display.asp?year=2007&prid=264

Economics & Law

Economics is one of the traditional preparations for law school. The three articles below may help explain why. The first two present information on the average LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) scores for Economics majors and for others. The Economics majors are at or near the top. The last article presents evidence on the salaries of lawyers with Economics and other majors.

"LSAT Scores of Economics Majors" by Michael Nieswiadomy, Journal of Economic Education, Fall 1998.

"LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2003-2004 Class Update" by Michael Nieswiadomy, Journal of Economic Education, Spring 2006.

"Do Economists Make Better Lawyers? Undergraduate Degree Field and Lawyer Earnings" by R. Kim Craft and Joe G. Baker, Journal of Economic Education, Summer 2003.

Economics & the MBA degree

The analysis, forecasting, and critical thinking skills students acquire with their Economics majors are quite useful in advanced business study. Economics might be the best preparation for future MBA (Master of Business Administration) students taking the GMAT (Graduate management Admissions Test, required for most MBA programs). The link below leads to a .pdf from the website for the Graduate Management Admission Council. On pages 20-24, you can find how well students with different majors did on the GMAT in five different years, from 2001/02 to 2005/06. On page 20, Economics majors (under Social Sciences) averaged from 561 to 570 in those years. This compares very favorably with other fields.

Profile of Graduate Management Admissions Test Candidates

Professional Organizations

Organizations