Economists help shape how governments, businesses, and institutions understand labor markets, inflation, housing, education, inequality, and economic growth. Yet the pathway into the profession—and particularly into doctoral training—remains narrow, uneven, and often opaque.
Each year, a relatively small number of students complete a Ph.D. in economics in the United States. Those graduates go on to teach the next generation, advise central banks and federal agencies, influence research agendas, evaluate public programs, and shape economic debates. They occupy positions where analytic authority meets real-world decisionmaking. And the placement of economics Ph.D. graduates in industry provides a vital mechanism for transmitting knowledge and data from academia to firms.
Therefore, it matters who enters economics Ph.D. programs and who makes through. It impacts not only the future of the discipline, but also the range of perspectives informing economic policy and business strategy.
Recent data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics—along with insights from higher education leaders, hiring managers, and economists—suggest that talent exists across a broad range of institutions and communities. However, uneven access to quantitative preparation, research opportunities, mentoring, and professional networks continues to shape who ultimately reaches doctoral study in economics.
The majority of economics doctoral graduates are men, with some wide racial gaps
To better understand who is currently progressing through the economics doctoral pipeline, it is useful to examine recent patterns in degree attainment across citizenship, sex, race, and ethnicity.
Table 1 shows earned doctorates in economics by citizenship, race, and ethnicity between 2021 and 2024. During that period, U.S. universities awarded roughly 1,371 economics Ph.D.s per year. The majority (65%) were awarded to men. Combined, temporary visa holders and recipients whose citizenship was unknown earned 64.5% of economics Ph.D.s, continuing a long-running pattern driven by the positive reputation of U.S. programs, available funding, and strong prior quantitative preparation abroad. These data are available from the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), however data on race and ethnicity are only provided for recipients who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Table 2 shows earned doctorates in economics by U.S. citizens and permanent residents across sex, race, and ethnicity from 2021 and 2024. Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the proportions for Black, Latino or Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native graduates are lower relative to those groups’ population shares. In some years, the count for Indigenous graduates rounds to zero.
While international scholars remain essential to the strength of U.S. economics research, the relatively small number of domestic Ph.D. recipients from underrepresented groups raises concerns about whether the field is drawing broadly enough from the nation’s talent pool. Those gaps have implications for who conducts research, which policy questions receive attention, and how economic challenges affecting diverse communities are understood.
What we heard from the field
As the market for Ph.D.-trained economists becomes more competitive and more segmented, the pathway into doctoral study matters more than ever. Opportunities are not evenly distributed, and the students who succeed are often those who receive early preparation, clear information, structured mentoring, and exposure to research.
With that in mind, the Economic Mobility Project at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (which I am the director of) convened a cross-sector roundtable in June 2024 titled “Career Pathways in Business and Economics: Roundtable for Higher Education Administrators and Hiring Managers.” Our goal was to create space for an honest exchange between those who prepare students and those who ultimately hire them.
We brought together 25 participants, including professors, department chairs, and deans (particularly from teaching-focused colleges), as well as directors and senior leaders from Federal Reserve banks, think tanks, and policy organizations.
We wanted to create a structured opportunity to discuss, in concrete terms, what students need to know, how readiness is evaluated, and where the pathway into doctoral programs and research careers breaks down. We opened the convening with a discussion of automation and artificial intelligence to ground the conversation in today’s labor market realities. Participants then turned to the practical issues: math preparation, research exposure, predoctoral fellowships, research assistantships, mentoring, and application support.
We wanted to hear participants’ thoughts on the following questions:
- How is the pipeline into economics Ph.D. programs currently constructed?
- Where do students, especially those from under-resourced institutions, lose momentum?
- What signals do hiring managers and doctoral programs rely on?
- Which interventions meaningfully expand access and persistence, rather than simply providing information or raising awareness?
During the discussion, one overarching theme emerged: the need to strengthen and clarify the pipeline into economics Ph.D. programs. Participants talked about the importance of bridge programs, predoctoral fellowships, and research assistantships. These programs and opportunities do more than build technical skills—they provide students with professional norms, networks, confidence, and visibility into how academic and policy research careers actually work. For many students, these experiences make doctoral study feel tangible rather than abstract.
Here are three key insights from the discussion:
- Talent exists across a wide range of institutions, but many students are never exposed to economics as a field of study or career pathway. At many universities, the general education core curriculum is required for all students and provides foundational knowledge that isn’t dependent on students’ majors. It combines broad academic exploration with opportunities for students to consider their personal and professional goals. But economics is not universally part of the general core curriculum at many U.S. higher education institutions. A 2020 American Council of Trustees and Alumni study of core requirements at 1,100 U.S. colleges and universities found that “just over 3% of institutions studied required students to take a basic economics class.” The majority of college students—about 60% to 75%—never take an economics course.
- Preparation is uneven. While students might be interested in the economics field after being introduced to it, advanced math, coding, and research exposure are hurdles to competitive applications for students who did not take sufficient prerequisite courses in high school or during their first two years of college. Success in economics graduate programs requires a high level of quantitative preparation: Most economics Ph.D. recipients major in economics as undergraduates and take substantial coursework in advanced mathematics. Without early exposure to economics and higher-order mathematics courses, it is difficult to be on track to earn a Ph.D. in economics.
- Early mentorship matters. Sustained, multi-mentor support is vital from the point of deciding to apply to a Ph.D. program through to later career advancement. A positive academic mentor-mentee match can influence application decisions, increase admissions odds and program completion, provide guidance on the scholarly journal publication process, and give recommendations for promotion and tenure.
Convening participants also emphasized the role of employers. Predoctoral research assistant and research analyst positions, structured internships, and transparent hiring requirements help educators prepare students for entry-level positions in economics.
In summary, the discussion reinforced that strengthening the pipeline requires sustained attention at multiple stages: early quantitative preparation, structured research experiences, transparent signaling about expectations, and collaboration between higher education institutions and employers. Employers, in particular, are not just end-users of talent; they play an active role in shaping who sees themselves as eligible for doctoral study and high-level research careers.
Pipeline programs are expanding access but remain limited in scale
Several existing pipeline programs attempt to reduce informational, financial, and professional barriers to doctoral study in economics. Importantly, these programs operate at different stages of the educational and professional pathway, recognizing that students often need support long before they apply to a Ph.D. program.
Some initiatives focus on strengthening quantitative preparation and academic confidence early in the pipeline. EDGE, Math Alliance, and SLMath strengthen upstream math preparation through bootcamps, mentoring, and cohort support. These programs help students develop both technical skills and professional networks during critical transition periods spanning high school, college, and graduate study.
Other programs focus on exposing undergraduate students to economics research careers before they make postgraduate decisions. Open to students of all backgrounds, the Expanding Discovery in Economics+ program at the University of Chicago intervenes early with a nine-week summer program that provides a financial stipend, data bootcamps, faculty exposure, and funded travel, which lower the financial and informational barriers that keep students from considering research careers in economics. The program has accepted 40 to 45 participants in the past four cohorts.
Similarly, the American Economic Association Summer Training Program combines graduate-level coursework, faculty mentoring, and research opportunities for approximately 35 to 40 students annually. According to the program, its alumni accounted for as much as 20% of minority economics Ph.D. recipients over the past two decades.
As students move closer to doctoral study, predoctoral research programs provide another important bridge. Pathways to Research and Doctoral Careers (PREDOC) connects undergraduate students and new graduates to paid, full-time research assistant roles with leading economists across universities, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the Federal Reserve. During the program, students have the opportunity to present their research and receive feedback from academic and industry economists. Program participants have gone on to Ph.D. programs at universities such as Harvard University and the University of Texas at Austin; research assistant and research analyst positions with the Federal Reserve System; and industry roles at companies such as Analysis Group and the Bridgespan Group.
Professional organizations also play an important role in sustaining networks and mentorship throughout graduate education and beyond. Founded by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore in furtherance of the legacy of Sadie T.M. Alexander, the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in economics, the Sadie Collective works to strengthen the economics pipeline by connecting students and professionals from underrepresented backgrounds across multiple career stages. Through conferences, mentoring, and professional development opportunities, the organization addresses the informational and belonging gaps that can discourage persistence in the field.
Meanwhile, in the American Economic Association Summer Economics Fellows Program, economics graduate students and early-career faculty members work with economists at Federal Reserve banks, think tanks, and private sector organizations while completing independent research projects. Since 2007, 285 applicants have been hired for fellowships through the Federal Reserve System and private sector partners.
Finally, the Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics (DITE) program addresses what many participants described as the final major “leak” in the pipeline: retention and advancement into senior faculty leadership. By mentoring junior faculty through the tenure process and into leadership roles, programs such as DITE strengthen representation among the economists who shape admissions, mentoring, research agendas, and institutional priorities.
Taken together, these initiatives demonstrate that expanding participation in economics requires more than identifying talented students. Students also need access to rigorous quantitative preparation, sustained mentorship, research experience, financial support, and professional networks across multiple stages of development.
Expanding the economics pipeline requires earlier preparation and sustained support
Expanding the economics Ph.D. pipeline will require interventions at multiple stages of the educational process. One important step is treating quantitative readiness as a structural design issue rather than as an individual shortcoming. Universities can strengthen preparation by offering credit-bearing math bridge programs, coding labs, and clearer course sequencing guidance aligned with doctoral expectations.
Research experience also needs to become more accessible and less dependent on informal faculty networks. Expanding paid research assistant opportunities and recognizing faculty mentorship as meaningful institutional labor could help more students build competitive doctoral profiles. Financial support matters as well, but funding alone is often insufficient. Cohort-based mentoring models, sustained advising structures, and multi-year support systems can help students navigate not only admissions, but also persistence through graduate training and early career development.
In addition, partnerships and collaborations between faculty and administrators at teaching-focused colleges and universities, economics Ph.D. admissions staff members, pipeline program staff, and hiring managers at organizations that hire economics Ph.D. graduates can be strengthened in deliberate ways. With information on job requirements from hiring managers, undergraduate and graduate institutions can co-develop curricula, share research seminars, and reserve predoctoral program slots to ensure students have clearer pathways into advanced study.
Funders can have a positive impact on how this work develops. By tying multi-year support to outcomes such as degree completion, job placement, and continued mentoring, they can encourage institutions to focus on sustained success rather than short-term participation.
Who earns economics Ph.D.s—and who hires them—reflect more than individual merit. They reflect whether students have been advised on the courses necessary to provide them with the requisite quantitative skills, and if anyone with standing will both teach them and mentor them. The nation’s economics Ph.D. pipeline, particularly for underrepresented groups, remains thin relative to the policy and innovation demands ahead. The good news is there are working models, but they need to be better leveraged and scaled.
