Assessing Economic Returns From Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research in Universities: A Computational Textual Analysis Approach

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: Division J - Section 4: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Interdisciplinarity is widely promoted in higher education, yet empirical evidence mainly focuses on in-college learning outcomes rather than post-graduation economic returns. We employed natural language processing to analyze two large textual databases to quantitatively assess the impacts of interdisciplinary teaching (IDT) and research (IDR) on graduates' earnings. Our findings reveal that IDT significantly enhances earnings, especially in larger institutions where IDT is less prevalent, whereas IDR has a smaller premium for students' future earnings than IDT does. This discrepancy suggests a stratification in economic benefits between institutions emphasizing IDR over IDT, highlighting potential risks for schools focused more on interdisciplinary research than teaching.

Authors

• Siqi Han, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• Yue Li, The Chinese University of Hong Kong