Studying economics and management at Aston will equip you with both the theoretical and applied understanding you need to excel in your professional life. These skills will help you whether you’re interested in careers in different aspects of management or want to run your own business.

What you’ll learn

Studying this course will give you an in-depth understanding of business and strategic decision-making, while developing both your analytical and quantitative skills. Knowledge of statistical and experimental methods used in economics is increasingly important for a successful professional career.

Theories, models and methods are brought to life through teaching that focuses on active learning and content that stresses real-world examples and applications. The placement year helps to equip you with highly relevant transferable skills that further increase your value in the graduate labour market.

The course will help you to understand the relationships between different parts of an organisation, and its interactions with the economic environment. Theories and frameworks in both management and economics education also develop your decision-making skills and your ability to manage teams effectively.

Our close links to industry and our focus on delivering business experiences provides a blend of learning and teaching experience to equip you for your future career.

Learning and teaching

As an economics and management student at Aston, you will experience our innovative approach to teaching, which combines a range of different methods including lectures, seminars, tutorials, group working, short in-class games, debates and computer simulation exercises. For example, all students on the course will take a Business Game module where they are placed in teams that operate a simulated company. The teams will compete against one another, providing a simulated competitive environment. The game draws on a range of theories studied in the first year and develops a range of professional skills needed by managers.

Five members of the economics team are winners of national teaching awards whilst two are co-authors of one of the best-selling economics textbooks. All teaching staff use the virtual learning environment at Aston to host a range of electronic supporting materials including quizzes and audio feedback on coursework. The department also has excellent links with the Government Economic Service – the largest employer of economists in the UK. Two members of staff are currently assessors for their graduate recruitment programme. This gives you a unique opportunity to learn from people making hiring decisions for one of the most prestigious employers in the UK.

Assessment

You will have a wide range of assessments from the first to final year, including - exams and coursework combined with more innovative approaches such as poster reports, online assessments, debates and group video projects. The department enters the highest quality video presentations into a national student competition run by the Royal Economic Society.

Personal development

Our business degrees are designed to also give you a range of transferable and practical skills to help you succeed within your chosen career. We make extensive use of group working and presentations to prepare you for the reality of working life. This experience will develop your teamworking and negotiating skills.

The integrated placement year gives you - practical work experience that is invaluable in developing an appreciation of issues such as office politics, which cannot be replicated in the lecture room.

This course provides you with skills, theory and knowledge that can be applied to real world situations, and which will be beneficial to any career path, business or organisation. You will develop analytical, problem solving skills that will enable you to provide logical solutions to challenging business problems.

During the placement year, you will be able to develop your learning and showcase your skills in a real-life working environment, helping you to accelerate your employability.

Your communication will develop throughout this course through assignments that ask for economic and management theories to be written and communicated to a non-specialist audience, which will support your transferable skills.

Economics and management graduates are employed in a variety of settings including banks, consultancies, insurance and accountancy firms, charitable and not-for-profit organisations and government departments.

Aston economics graduates are some of the most employable in the UK (5th in the UK for Career Prospects, Economics. Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019).

The largest employer of economists in the UK is the Government Economic Service (GES). Our economics teaching staff include two GES assessors, which gives you a unique opportunity to learn from people making hiring decisions for one of the most prestigious professional bodies.

Recent graduates

Our graduates have been successful in securing roles such as:

• Technology consulting graduate scheme
• Corporate Finance Associate
• Commercial banking graduate scheme
• Data Analyst
• Graduate Risk Analyst
• Audit Trainee
• Tax Professional
• Accounting Coordinator.