Dubbed the Undergraduate Women in Economics (or UWE, pronounced like the word “you”) challenge, the study asked 20 college economics departments to implement “light-touch” initiatives for one year aimed at recruiting and retaining female students. The goal of the UWE Challenge, according to the report, “was to uncover why women do not major in economics to the same degree as men and to assess what could be done about the disparity.” Even though more women than men are enrolled in higher education, male economics majors outnumber female economics majors 2.5 to one. The challenge was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, providing $12,500 to each treatment institution—meaning an institution that implemented interventions.
