In the last twenty-five years – from 1996 to 2021 – a series of actions have marked the evolution of the economy: from transformations linked to new information and communication technologies to the Covid-19 pandemic, among other things, through to the financial and economic crisis of the second half of the first decade of the 21st century. In this article, we look at the impact of events in the last twenty-five years on economics teaching, whether this is evolving alongside the economic reality or not, what has given rise to a mismatch between economics and the social and economic reality. To analyze this, in the first section, we will tackle the social mission of the “economist” in the sense of being teachers of highly diverse collectives, and in the second section, we will reflect on the evolution of economics teaching at University. The analysis leads us to conclude that, although economics teaching has varied over time, it has not undergone substantial change in recent decades. The lack of diversity of thinking in economics curricula joins forces with a lack of diversity among prominent thinkers and professionals to often translate into an incomplete view explaining the complex economic reality and an interaction with other disciplines, particularly social sciences.
Economics as an academic discipline is unique inasmuch as ever-increasing numbers of students are rebelling against the content offered by universities. Our intention with this paper is to expose the scope of the problem lying behind this discontent, addressing some of its aspects in close detail. First, the economics discipline is defined in its current state as a monoculture based on the three axiomatic principles of neoclassical economics, and through epistemic discourse, the monoculture problem is discussed in depth. Second, the lack of pluralism in current study programmes is highlighted, with the results from analyses conducted by a variety of groups focusing on universities in the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Third, the pluralism of theories, disciplines and methodologies is presented as a strategy to break with the neoclassical monoculture and to improve the education of students of economics. The paper concludes by bringing into sharp focus how pluralism in the teaching of economics is necessary not only for economics students, but for the academic world, the business world and society in general.