Written by Alexia Rigoni, Captain of Cammeraygal High School and the 2022 Member for Lane Cove in the NSW Youth Parliament.
At Cammeraygal High School, a comprehensive coeducational school in Crows Nest, just a short distance from Lane Cove, girls are being encouraged to embrace the study of Economics at the HSC level.
Economics is one of the most interesting and useful subjects in the Year 11 and 12 curricula, as it teaches analysis and problem-solving, and provides us with the tools to critically examine government policies and news coverage.
But unfortunately, girls across Australia are increasingly turning away from this discipline. Only 35% of students studying economics at Year 12 level are female, significantly impacting the capacity of women to cast informed votes, meaningfully engage with news coverage of domestic and foreign affairs and find jobs in a corporate world that greatly values economic literacy.
Economics is not about making money, but rather about examining the choices that individuals, businesses and governments make, and analysing how those decisions affect the world around us. While conventional economics does revolve around financial markets, macroeconomic policy and exchange rates, many economists study fields as diverse as
- corruption
- power
- love
- education
- social influence
- lab experiments
- time use
- crowd psychology
- female breadwinning
- animal behaviour
- probability
- gambling
- house prices
- human wellbeing
- COVID-19 policy and
- happiness
Economics simplifies these divergent fields of study through theory and diagrams and gives us the tools to productively think about and discuss these complex issues.
Economics is always evolving, ever-changing and constantly being updated as economists develop new insights into the functioning of the world. Economics is not an absolute set of facts, but rather a process, in that it provides us with a framework to interpret the world around us and the meta-language with which to communicate our findings.
Gigi Foster, a Professor of Economics at UNSW, has even created a model that measures love! Foster has studied how love impacts resource allocation and material consumption and has used elements of economic theory to form the basis of her analysis. Anyone who is interested in social issues and learning about how we can help every member of our society can greatly benefit from studying economics.
The Year 11 Economics HSC course revolves around consumers and businesses, financial and labour markets and government intervention in the economy and provides a perfect introduction to the subject of economics. In Year 12, students explore government policy and currency and exchange rates in greater depth, which provides ideal preparation for university-level commerce, business, and economics courses.
Elke Giordano, former Cammeraygal Economics student and the 2022 Cammeraygal Dux, graduating with an ATAR of 99.55, has noted that
“It’s a real-world subject and can be applied to anything. It gives you a broader view of the world, and I can connect the news and current events to a lot of the things I have learned.”
Speaking specifically to girls, Elke says that
“Economics is quite a rewarding subject. It’s a social science, so it’s very logical and involves lots of problem-solving. It’s not all about Maths (despite what many people think) and caters to everyone.”
Her advice for students thinking of choosing economics is to
“Read widely and learn about contemporary events, as they really help you to understand the theory behind economics.”
Last year, Cammeraygal High School implemented a ‘Women in Economics’ initiative to encourage women to select the subject in Years 11 and 12. This project included inviting speakers in from the RBA to talk about economic issues, holding talks with girls in Year 10, placing posters around the school and publishing articles in the school newsletter. This program was successful, with the number of girls selecting Economics increasing by 18% in one year!
Fortunately, all girls, regardless of the school they attend, can still get involved and learn more about economics. Lane Cove Library has the magazines The Economist and The Monthly available to read for free, and all students at Cammeraygal are provided free access to the online newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, which are all perfect for building general knowledge and learning more about the economy.
There are so many ways to be an economist, and I strongly encourage every girl in Lane Cove to consider pursuing Economics at school – you never know what paths it will take you down!
Written by Alexia Rigoni,
Captain of Cammeraygal High School and the 2022 Member for Lane Cove in the NSW Youth Parliament
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