My path to finding economics

From learning French, taking on Honours year and co-founding the Women in Economics and Business Society (WEBS), Shumi Ruan uncovers her journey to embracing Economics.

Written by Shumi Ruan, Bachelor of Economics (Hons)/Bachelor of Laws

Only after you make it to the other side of a university degree does it become possible to reflect on the choices that led to deeming a single academic discipline worthy of four long years. In some ways, this would have been a neater story if I had been driven by a burning passion for economics straight out of high school into the buzzing lecture halls of the University of Sydney. However, I was not one of those lucky few.

Instead, I stumbled in a slightly longwinded fashion into my Bachelor of Economics. During my first few semesters at the University of Sydney, I tentatively kept my options open by enrolling in an ambiguous Bachelor of Arts alongside my Bachelor of Laws. This was my way of keeping a finger in each pie and not having to make a definitive choice between my two high school passions: economics as taught through the NSW HSC curriculum and a serious case of adolescent Francophilia.

The introductory economics courses I enrolled in helped me to expand my understanding of economics far beyond the study of the Australian macroeconomy which I was familiar with from high school.

Suddenly, economics was everywhere. Pursuing economics at university gave me access to a broad range of analytical, statistical and research tools with which it was possible to tackle a wide range of policy and industry issues. The skills we learnt and the discussions we had in class became blindingly relevant to understanding all the major contemporary conundrums of the world; from climate change to geopolitics, from the outbreak of a virus to the tech revolution.

Studying economics encouraged me to engage broadly with the discipline through these global aspects. With the support of the School of Economics, I was fortunate enough to spend a semester abroad on exchange at the University of Geneva. This was an invaluable opportunity to experience Swiss economic pedagogy, surrounded by copious amounts of cheese and bread.

Throughout my degree, I also had access to a multitude of internships and industry experiences, from a crash-course in investment management with Pendal to an eightweek intensive in the epicentre of economic policy at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

By far, the most memorable moments at university were created during my Honours year. It was not just because the year coincided with the move to the new Social Sciences Building with its shiny mirrors and lush kitchen facilities. The courses were inevitably rigorous and challenging, although this made them particularly engaging. In amongst the study, our Honours cohort managed to spend a fair share of the year at frequent long lunches and on multiple coffee runs. This was how we were able to come together as friends and conspirators. It is hard to not be swept up in the passions of your fellow classmates as they fervently conduct research in these different fields, getting a taste of life as an academic. We were able to work closely and intimately with academics at the School who selflessly dedicated their time, resources and wisdom to guiding us through the Honours year. It was also a real highlight to work as a tutor for the School of Economics. The opportunity to be at the front of the classroom was edifying. As new tutors, we had a lot of fun passing on a few shared experiences to the eager, and often confused, first year students whose shoes we were just in.

“The skills we learnt and the discussions we had class became blindingly relevant to understanding all the major contemporary conundrums of the world; from climate change to geopolitics, from the outbreak of a virus to the tech revolution.”

In early 2018, two close friends and I set out to create a new student society, Women in Economics and Business (WEBS), after often lamenting that there was no student association on campus whose purpose was to promote gender equality and diversity within economics and business. In the third year of our degree, we were painfully aware that these were fields where women remain substantially disadvantaged in their career prospects, not just in terms of enrolment and attrition at the university level. Having witnessed gender imbalances within the classroom, creating a student society was our way of taking action to address the experiences of female-identifying students in their studies at University. Whilst it was important for me to use this platform as a way to champion diversity and inclusion, the events that we hosted ultimately created an inter-disciplinary and inter-cohort community. Through a range of social, academic and career-focused events, WEBS has become a way for current students to connect and to meet alumni, and it is exciting to see this broad group of women has been growing rapidly.

I finally did make the definitive switch to a Bachelor of Economics. I became increasingly enamoured by the endless possibilities of economics. It became blindingly obvious that, despite my love for French, the study of economics sat powerfully at the nexus of science, statistics, as well as the humanities – particularly its integration with history, politics and philosophy. There is little else that surpasses the strength of this disciplinary combination. Although I have another year of my law degree to finish up, I hope to continue my working with economics in the immediate future by continuing to tutor. My path into economics may have involved a bit of fumbling and a whole lot of hesitation, but it has been a genuine delight to study a diverse range of topics, relevant to both the local and global community, here at this illustrious School of Economics.