In May 2021, the GEEZ team hosted a panel about the future of economics of education to conclude the third round of the GEEZ seminars. The event featured Dr. Natalie Bau (UCLA), Dr. Peter Q. Blair (Harvard), Dr. Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela (CEP - LSE), and Dr. Breyon Williams (Mathematica) who answered our questions on the research topics, methods, and careers at the frontier of the field. We surveyed grad students on Twitter to select the questions asked to the panelists.
To kick off our GEEZ blog series on the economics of education, we summarize five takeaways from this successful event. You can (re-)watch the event here:
1. Be passionate and specific about the research topics you study.
- This will make it much easier to define your research agenda.
- You need a common theme to define your research agenda. Be specific, even within economics of education (e.g., school choice, acquisition of human capital, public procurement).
- Specialize in one topic rather than many topics in different fields.
- Tip: If you want to invest in new topics, do it with a co-author!
2. "What matters is the question, not the method. And you should use the method that is appropriate to answer the question." (Dr. Bau)
- Tip: Machine learning is the tool of the future, invest time in learning it!
- Ask yourself: What is the relevant descriptive statistic? What is the relevant model?
3. Invest in learning how to write and how to code.
- Create a template in Overleaf that you can use when you start a new project.
- Include the outline of the paper and slides.
- Tip: Start writing as soon as you start a new project!
- Share the Overleaf file with your co-authors.
- Invest in learning how to write.
- The quality of the work and the quality of the writing are equally important.
- We like the following books on learning how to write: Writing with Power by Peter Elbow. The Little Book of Research by Varanya Chaubey. Economical Writing by Deirdre McCloskey.
- Learn to code and take proper courses on coding.
- See Gentzkow & Shapiro's "Code and Data for the Social Sciences: A Practioner's Guide".
4. To access data and conduct RCTs: knock on doors and persist...
- ... but keep in mind that it takes time.
- RCTs for your JMP: keep in mind that it is riskier. Have a back-up plan.
- Tip: Consider working with an existing infrastructure such as your advisor or an organization.
- When applying for data access (e.g., Texas or North Carolina education administrative data), figure out a research agenda that you can do with that data (see point 1).
5. Have fun and enjoy your grad studies!
- Find the distinctive thing you like about what you do. You have time to think about one research project, enjoy it!
- More about a career in economics of education. Our panelists shared some insights about their job. Here are short summaries of what they do as economists specializing in education:
- Dr. Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela is a researcher at the London School of Economics. She does not teach and spends most of her time on policy-relevant research that is published in journals. She often presents in the department of education in the UK and engages with policymakers and other researchers in think-tanks and educational charities. Tip: Switching back to academia can be challenging.
- Dr. Breyon Williams is a researcher at Mathematica focusing exclusively on projects in education. Projects vary a lot in terms of what you do: from design research to implementation research and impact evaluation, and sometimes a combination of those. The topics (e.g., teacher quality, tutoring) and types of tasks vary a lot.
- Dr. Natalie Bau and Dr. Peter Q. Blair also shared their experience working in academia. Academia has the similar pros and cons to a small business owner with employees. You work on topics that are important and that the market wants. There is a huge freedom in academia. In fact, "being a professor is awesome"! (Dr. Blair).
By Catherine Michaud-Leclerc
Collaborator and proofreader: Pere A. Taberner