Title: Roundtable on economics education in community colleges

Authors: Mark Maier; Tim Thornton

Addresses: Glendale Community College, Glendale, CA 91208, USA ' Boston University, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract: Community colleges (often called two-year colleges) are an important part of the USA tertiary education system. Despite the sector's significance, relatively little research on economics instruction in the community colleges has occurred. This constrains the sector's capacity to understand its own needs, unique contributions, considerable strengths, and strong potential. It also adds to the risk - and often, the reality - of the sector being misunderstood, undervalued, and under-supported by the economics profession and by policymakers. To help address this research shortfall, we conducted a roundtable on community colleges during mid-2019. Participants were invited on the basis of either their extensive experience in the sector, previous research on community colleges, or their expertise on US economics education in general. Issues discussed include recent developments in the sector, the level of support and recognition provided, the content economics curriculum, and how economics instruction in community colleges could be better supported.

Keywords: community colleges; economics curriculum; economics teaching; economics profession; economics textbooks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2020.109493

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2020 Vol.11 No.1, pp.30 - 54

Published online: 10 Sep 2020 *