Choosing a field

[cluelessness]

Hello! I'm new to this forum but I've heard many good things about it. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute as I make my way through grad school and learn more! Short intro about me: I finished undergrad 2 years ago, worked in the meantime, and now will be starting the first year of my PhD this fall.

About choosing your specialty fields in the second year.
As of now I'm unsure what I want to specialize in, and am one of those people who feel like anything could be interesting. Because I'm so undecided in this respect, the prospect of choosing my specialty field in the 2nd year (after first year during which presumably I won't get that much exposure to the different fields) is frightening.

So my question to those of you have already gone through this:
1. How did you go about choosing your field, especially those of you who weren't decided in the beginning? Any advice on how to go about this for the particularly undecided?

2. How "binding" is the choice career-wise? that is, Say you choose a specialty field, but later in your schooling/career perhaps you find something in a different field very interesting. How feasible is it for one to jump to this topic which is not one's "specialty"?

Sorry if I'm being naive. Personally I would love to be a jack-of-all-trades, but in this era of specialization that probably won't get me anywhere
Would love any insights, Thanks!!

[econbeliever]

I am also starting my first year this fall and I have a pretty good idea of what I want to specialize in (IO and finance or behavioral or econometrics). So far I have identified these fields based on my undergraduate exposure to the various fields and my phd program's specialties. For example, the IO, antitrust and regulation, and econometrics courses I took as an undergrad were my favorite courses as I looked forward to each lecture and had passion for learning the subject (unlike in the public choice and economic history courses I took). And as for my phd program's specialties, I am going to UCSB and their program is especially strong in environmental, behavioral, and experimental economics. While I have had no exposure to any of these fields, I have taken the time to learn a little bit about each and found that I do have some interest in behavioral. You may want to look for your fields this way because your school likely has a strong set of faculty dedicated to research in the fields where it is particularly strong, which would make your research opportunities much more vibrant and flexible. Additionally, if your school has a strong reputation in a particular field, it would be less difficult to find a job after grad school that enables you to continue working in your chosen field (and you would have a larger set of jobs to choose from).

Unfortunately though, I believe this choice is binding in terms of finding jobs immediately after graduate school. My father received his phd in economics 20+ years ago and specialized in public economics (along with IO, but his dissertation was in public economics). Because of this choice, his career options at the time were severally limited. He was unable to find an academic job in an environment that appealed to him (Iowa did not appeal to him) and thus he had to leave academics to pursue his career as an economist. He has advised me that I should choose a field where jobs in academics and the private sector are readily available.

[manchild]

there is a lot of stress on this forum! My advice is to remember that you don't have to choose until you have been exposed to another year of learning and reading, and you will probably work out what interests you as you move through your first year. If not, start worrying this time next year!

A bit more seriously, the more exposure you have to journal articles the more likely you are to find something that gets you excited. For me it was working through Tim Bresnahan's paper on behaviour in the American car market in 1955. It was published in 1987 in the JIE and was chiefly written as a part of his PhD thesis. For anyone interested in empirical IO it is definately worth a look.

[Golden Rule]

1. How did you go about choosing your field, especially those of you who weren't decided in the beginning? Any advice on how to go about this for the particularly undecided?

My recommendation is for you to look at a few things --- graduate syllabi in the various fields, the introductions of seminal papers in your field (which will be evident from the syllabi), and look at some recent job market papers in these fields. Skim over research of professors in these fields at your school. Are the questions these fields ask ones that generally interest you? (though the better question is, can you imagine yourself thinking of a question that you can convince others who study this field is of interest?) Will you get good advising at your school for these questions that interest you?

Surveys in JEP, JEL, and Annual Reviews can also be good while you're getting started.

2. How "binding" is the choice career-wise? that is, Say you choose a specialty field, but later in your schooling/career perhaps you find something in a different field very interesting. How feasible is it for one to jump to this topic which is not one's "specialty"?

What second-year field courses you take does not decide your career. You have a lot of flexibility to do what you like. Advising is more the relevant constraint than courses offered. Courses will typically only give you a small introduction to any specific topic you'll study.

Now as an asst. prof., you're certainly not bound to do one area. But some factors tend to constrain you in one area. When you're an asst. prof., most of the profession may remember you for your job market paper. You'll likely have a stronger network based on areas you've already worked in. Tenure review will largely be based on recommendations of other experts in your field, so too much breadth can be problematic. That said, some profs definitely like those who at least read in other fields and use those ideas in their own research (I recall reading a Matthew Kahn post to that effect in the last year or two).

there is a lot of stress on this forum! My advice is to remember that you don't have to choose until you have been exposed to another year of learning and reading, and you will probably work out what interests you as you move through your first year. If not, start worrying this time next year!

I actually strongly disagree with this advice. The first year is much more enjoyable if you do it with your future career in mind. If you just focus on coursework, you'll hate grad school.

Also, first year of grad school is not all that useful in terms of deciding your field (maybe only between micro & macro). And you might want to get an RA position summer after 1st year, at which point it's good to have some research interests in mind. I think it's a decision you should weight carefully over time, not make at the last possible minute.

That said, you shouldn't get stressed over it and you shouldn't be in a rush to decide now, but I'd recommend that you start to think about it, and enjoy it.

[treblekicker]

the first year will help to settle micro v. macro for nearly everyone. and it'll likely settle whether you can tolerate micro theory as well. but beyond that -- what kind of theory, what kind of applied work -- depends partially on what the department offers and how much time you've spent already exploring a field.

[_nanashi]

I think you should not worry about it. After you take the first year, your second year will likely be mostly field courses. After you pass qualification exams, figure out whether you liked micro or macro more and pick your electives that way.

If you liked macroeconomic issues in general, I'd choose topics like International Finance, further courses in Macro/Monetary Theory, Time Series (or advanced topics in time series). You may want to consider taking microcourses like trade and development for breadth or to gain a concentration in international economics.

If your interested were more micro oriented you may choose different electives.


I definitely would heed though the advice given by the above. Try to stay in your schools realm of expertise.

[dreck]

I don't know if you can do it everywhere (or anywhere), but I might try to go to a few seminars here and there during the first year. I know we'll be busy with core coursework, but it seems like a great way to get a feel for which fields I might enjoy the most...

I've read a few papers this summer to keep my mind fresh (I opted not to cram Rudin). Who knows whether it'll help me pick a field--I don't understand what I read sometimes--but I've definitely enjoyed it.

[Elliephant]

I anticipate some derision about this, but I'd recommend leafing through the pop-economics literature to identify potential areas of interest. Granted, far from everything is covered in books written for the general public, and it won't give you a feel for the technical side of things. It should, however, help you to rule out things you definitely don't want to do. It may also spark some new lines of inquiry/thought that you can then use to search the academic literature. Just my opinion though.

[Golden Rule]

I anticipate some derision about this, but I'd recommend leafing through the pop-economics literature to identify potential areas of interest. Granted, far from everything is covered in books written for the general public, and it won't give you a feel for the technical side of things. It should, however, help you to rule out things you definitely don't want to do. It may also spark some new lines of inquiry/thought that you can then use to search the academic literature. Just my opinion though.

No, I agree that's a good thing to do. That said, there are plenty of interesting topics that don't get touched by popular literature.

[_nanashi]

I don't know if you can do it everywhere (or anywhere), but I might try to go to a few seminars here and there during the first year. I know we'll be busy with core coursework, but it seems like a great way to get a feel for which fields I might enjoy the most.

Some schools require funded PhD students attend seminars, so I think you'll have opportunity. They generally are an hour or two once a week, you just have to consider it liesure time.