Symposium: A Fresh Look at the Future of the Intermediate Microeconomics Course – Challenges and Opportunities

Intermediate microeconomics occupies a key position in the undergraduate economics curriculum. It is considered the hardest ‘core’ course: mathematically rigorous, abstract in content, and frequently a turning point in students’ decisions to persist in the major. Yet, as the discipline grapples with declining enrolments, increasing emphasis on quantitative methods and persistent underrepresentation of women and minorities, the pedagogical and curricular design of intermediate microeconomics is ripe for scrutiny. This overview paper summarizes three papers describing those issues and proposing both pedagogical and curricular reforms.