We assess whether a light-touch intervention can increase socioeconomic and racial diversity in undergraduate Economics. We randomly assigned over 2200 students a message with basic information about the Economics major; the basic message combined with an emphasis on the rewarding careers or financial returns associated with the major; or no message. Messages increased the proportion of first generation students majoring in Economics by five percentage points. This effect size was sufficient to reverse the gap in Economics majors for first generation students. Suggestive evidence indicates the effects may be driven by first generation students who were not also underrepresented minorities.

中文翻译：

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一个简单的推动就可以增加经济学本科生的社会经济多样性


我们评估轻微干预是否可以增加经济学本科生的社会经济和种族多样性。我们随机给2200多名学生分配了一条包含经济学专业基本信息的消息；基本信息结合对与专业相关的有价值的职业或经济回报的强调；或没有消息。消息使第一代经济学专业学生的比例增加了五个百分点。这种效应大小足以扭转第一代学生在经济学专业上的差距。暗示性证据表明，这种影响可能是由第一代学生造成的，他们并非代表性不足的少数族裔。