American Economic Association Summer Program and Minority Scholarship Program Duke University

1. American Economic AssociationSummer Programand Minority Scholarship ProgramDuke University Dr. Charles M. Becker, Director Dr. Pietro Peretto, Associate Director Dr. Rhonda V. Sharpe, Associate Director Ms. Gail McKinnis, Administrator http://www.econ.duke.edu/aeasp

2. Key Characteristics • Founded in 1974. • Currently, approximately 36 funded students annually. • 803 alumni 1974-2005. • Emphasis is on encouraging underrepresented minorities to enter graduate programs in Economics and related fields.

3. Key Characteristics (cont.) • Research Project focus, plus formal coursework in Economic Theory, Mathematics, and Econometrics. Courses receive regular Duke credit. • Two levels: Foundations and Advanced. Scholars may participate in two summers, either sequentially or with a break. • About two-thirds of recent cohorts are expected to progress to PhD programs; only about 10% will not pursue any post-baccalaureate higher education.

4. Key Characteristics (cont.) • Universities typically host the AEASP for three to six years. Previous hosts include: University of Texas (Austin) Yale Stanford Northwestern Temple California (Berkeley) Wisconsin (Madison) Colorado (Denver) • Duke, the ninth host, has continued UCD’s partnership with North Carolina A&T, one of the nation’s leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

5. Recruiting Participants • Recruiting methods • Mailings (posters and brochures), to: • Historically Black Colleges and Universities • Hispanic Serving Institutions • Native American institutions • Urban institutions • Former Program host institutions • Campus visits by Director and Associate Director • 2004-05 and 2005-06 – 30 colleges and universities, from Vermont to New Mexico • Referrals from Program alumni

6. Recruiting Participants(cont.) • Recruiting methods (cont.) • Faculty referrals • Web site (http://www.econ.duke.edu/aeasp) • Program and scholarship description • Eligibility and prerequisites • Application and recommendation forms • Instructional faculty • Course descriptions • Fields in economics • Research papers • Alumni news

7. Recruiting Participants(cont.) • Recruiting methods (cont.) • E-mails • Telephone contacts • Advertisements in AEA journals

8. Program Eligibility • AEA Summer Program • Open to all qualified applicants, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender • Minority Scholarship Program • Open to qualified US citizens, and Mexican citizens with Permanent Resident status in the US • Preference given to members of racial or ethnic minorities historically disadvantaged in the US context

9. Prerequisites • All participants: • At least two years of undergraduate study • No formal GPA requirement, but nearly all participants have a 2.75 or better GPA • No age requirement (recent participant ages ranged between 19 and 35) • Foundations Level • A semester of statistics and/or econometrics, and a semester of calculus • Intermediate microeconomics or macroeconomics • Advanced Level • Three semesters of calculus or higher mathematics are required • Two semesters of calculus, linear algebra, differential equations and real analysis are encouraged

10. Characteristics of AEA Summer Program Participants, 2003-2005

11. Breakdown of Recent Summer Program Participants by Race and Gender (annual average number of Program participants)

12. Social Background Characteristics,2005 Minority Scholars YesNo Living independently of parents 21 9 Both parents living 21 9 Parents married (to each other) 12 18

13. Social Background Characteristics,2005 Minority Scholars (cont.)

14. Social Background Characteristics,2005 Minority Scholars (cont.)

15. 2005 Participants at the Fed

16. Recent Student Research Topics • Crime • Labor and social economics • International economics and economic development • Mexican-US economic links • Urban economics, discrimination, and regional economic development • Financial and business economics

17. Data Sets Used for Research Projects • National Longitudinal Surveys • US Census data • ENIGH (the Mexican National Household Survey) • Panel Study on Income Dynamics • National Educational Longitudinal Survey

18. End-of-Program Comments from 2005 Participants • This will be the hardest decision in my life...I'm still weighing in the pros and cons. I will take the GRE and apply to a handful of programs and see what happens. • I enjoyed the program and now want to enter a PH.D. program more than ever. • I had never really considered a PhD in Econ until I came here, this program definitely persuaded me to pursue a PhD in Econ.

19. End-of-Program Comments from 2005 Participants(cont.) • Economics is much more harder then I thought. • The program helped me to see the value of a PhD in economics. It helped me to gauge why I was doing this, and it helped me to see, after the initial shock wore off, that indeed with much hard work, I can survive a rigorous program. I will get this Ph.D.! • Before coming here I thought about a Ph.D. program, and now I am really considering continuing my understanding of economics, but first I must get more math!!!!!

20. 2005 Answers to: What were the best parts of the AEA Summer Program? • Great work environment and faculty. A very good experience as to what graduate school will be like. • Learning new material - the encouragement and support from the professors to do your best - trip to DC (except the bus) • Access to academic resources and support. -Financial support (I'm a NSF scholarship recipient) -DC Trip -Research Project • The best parts of the AEA summer program were the fellowship with other like-minded minorities who shared similar goals and interests as myself. I was also very pleased with the access to the faculty.

21. 2005 Answers to: What were the best parts of the AEA Summer Program? (2) • The best parts of the AEA Summer program included the classes, participants, and advising sessions. The classes were rigorous enough to expose our weaknesses. The students in the program were very enthusiastic and shared knowledge on a regular basis. In addition, the advising sessions were very informative. • The classes were extremely challenging but really succeed in stretching ones mind to its fullest limit. There is no greater joy than having to exercise your mind at that level. The opportunity to meet fellow students, Econ professors and everyone involved in the program was so gratifying. We learned and helped each other and of course challenge each other. What an experience looking back on it now.

22. 2005 Answers to: What were the best parts of the AEA Summer Program? (3) • The best part of the program, at least for me, was having the opportunity to be around such talented and like-minded individuals. The encouragement that I received from the program to pursue graduate study in Economics is priceless. It was great in that I really had a chance to get to know the program faculty in a very personal way. Just the sense of camaraderie among everyone, the competitive but team-oriented nature of the group work done with fellow classmates - it was a great experience!

23. 2005 Answers to: What were the best parts of the AEA Summer Program? (4) • The best part of the program was the pipeline conference and the trip to Washington D.C. Being able to see economists 'at work' really inspired me to work harder for a Ph.D. Most of the time in economics we lose sight of the big picture. The pipeline conference and the trip the D.C. enabled me to see the results of hard work. Also, having Dr. Sloan as a professor was really great. He was an inspiration.

24. 2005 Answers to: What were the best parts of the AEA Summer Program? (5) • Meeting other motivated and intelligent students who also feel strongly about economics. The preparation, as well as the trip to DC as well. The trip to DC was especially important because it allowed us to see how the policy world works. In conjunction with the pipeline conference, which seemed to focus more on academics, the trip rounded out the career possibilities quite nicely.

25. 2005 Answers to: What were the worst aspects? • Not enough time to do anything. • Workload and long nights. • The pace of the coursework and classes - competitiveness of the students - the concentration on grades and tests; I think the courses should be pass/fail!!!!! • Not being able to enjoy the nice summer Carolina weather enough.

26. 2005 Answers to: What were the worst aspects? (2) • The workload and the juggling of the speaker responsibilities. There just isn’t enough time to focus on learning the material thoroughly. I am aware that that might be unrealistic due to the time constraint. • The time constraint!!! Trying to study for three difficult exams in two maybe three days. • The amount of work was excruciating and our minds were extremely challenged

27. 2005 Answers to: What were the worst aspects?(3) • I didn't get enough sleep during the past 2 months but it is well worth it. • Highly difficult workload! The food... • The worst aspect was the fact that the workload forced you to stay up a lot of nights. Though this was the worst aspect I don't think it should change because this program is designed to simulate graduate school.

28. 2005 Participant Self-Predictions of Entering a Ph.D. Program in Economics

29. Progression to Doctoral Programs,AEA Minority Scholars, 2001-2005

30. AEA Summer Program Participants, 2001-2005,Progression to PhD Programsin Economics or Finance

31. AEA Summer ProgramSelected Prominent Alumni

32. AEA Summer ProgramSelected Prominent Alumni (cont.)

33. Financial and In-kind Supporters: 2002-2005