Course summary

From the cost-of-living crisis and climate change to the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply-chain problems; the past years have brought many challenges to economies all around the world. Studying economics will equip you with the skills and tools to analyse these issues and allow you to find ways to address them. Our core modules will introduce you to advanced economic theories and their applications in the areas of microeconomics, macroeconomics and behavioural economics. Furthermore, our applied data analysis module will provide important insight into managing and analysing contemporary large-scale data using professional software packages. Another core part of the programme is how economic data is measured and what the limitations are. For example, is GDP a suitable measure for economic well-being? The optional modules will offer you the opportunity to specialise in different areas. For students who want to study further areas of economics, we offer the modules Economics of Entrepreneurship and International Trade and Development. For students who want to focus more on programming and data analysis, the options are Data Mining and Visualisation and Programming for Data Analytics. Exploring Enterprise Experience and Business Finance modules provide further insight into business and finance. The programme concludes with an Economics Research Project, that will give you the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills developed during the course to analyse a relevant economics research problem you are interested in. How will my skills develop? The key competencies of economic knowledge, application and communication will be developed through many different avenues: Interactive classes provide space for discussions, reflections and feedback; innovative and authentic assessment promotes the use of economic key skills; group coursework will develop team-working skills, and the Economics research projects promote independent-learning and critical thinking skills under the guidance of a personal supervisor. How will this course help my career? Employability of our Economics graduates is a key aim of our programme. Therefore, we collaborated with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to address the skills gap that they observe in economics graduate employees. With the expertise of the ONS, we created the module Measuring the Economy on how data is measured and what challenges arise when economics statistics are created, and how these challenges can be overcome. Findings of the Economics Network employer survey show that economics graduates who have the ability to organise, interpret and present quantitative data, and to communicate economic ideas are in demand by employers. Therefore, our economic modules do not only aim at introducing students to advanced economic theories, but also to apply these theories to current issues and communicate the results in a clear and concise manner. Similarly, the Applied Data Analysis module will cover the management of data and the professional presentation and interpretation of econometric results. The aim of the Aston Global Advantage (AGA) module is professional development and employability. As part of the Economics specific delivery of AGA, we will also offer the “Professional Economist” module, where we focus on communication skills, for example, how economists can communicate with a non-economist audience.