Assistant Professor of Economics Stephen Wu was featured in Hispanic Outlook on Higher Education article on March 27 titled "Where did you get your Ph.D.?" The article discussed the results of Wu's study of the relationship between where faculty members get their Ph.D. and where they get a tenure-track job. The results were based on data gathered on approximately 5,000 faculty from the Web sites of six departments at 50 leading colleges and universities.
The results show that, "If you don't go to a very top school, your chances of getting a faculty position at a very top school are significantly less," according to Wu. The article also discussed the results of a related study Wu completed with Wayne Grove of Le Moyne College which looked at all of one year's applicants to Princeton's economic doctoral program and what the applicants are doing 15 years later. The results show that three good predictors of success as a research economist are the mathematics section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE); the level of activity and prestige of the people writing letters of reference and a foreign undergraduate degree, as only the most outstanding foreign applications are admitted.
"I encourage my students to realize that, as economists, we can address different types of questions beyond what people traditionally view as economics," said Wu in the article. "Economics doesn't have to be about maximizing profits. It is really about understanding how certain incentives cause us to do certain types of behavior."
