Prof. Marie Mora

Marie T. Mora (Ph.D., Texas A&M) is Professor of Economics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her books include Population, Migration, and Socioeconomic Outcomes of Island and Mainland Puerto Ricans (Lexington, 2017), co-authored with A. Dávila and  H. Rodríguez, and the award-winning Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the 2000s (Stanford University Press, 2013), co-authored with A. Dávila.

 









What’s the best (or worst) advice you ever received when it comes to being an economist?

Some of the best advice was given to me when I was in my Ph.D. Program at Texas A&M University. My major professor, Dr. Finis Welch, encouraged me to take more graduate-level statistics courses, not only more econometrics but also statistics courses taught by faculty in the Department of Statistics. (Note that Professor Welch, one of the founders of Stata, is known for saying he has probably run more regressions than anyone else who’s ever lived.) He also encouraged me to take other classes and read studies that were technically in fields outside of economics if I thought they would be interesting and helpful for my own research. In fact, I took some Ph.D. courses in Sociology, including an excellent Sociology of Education class that resulted in my first scholarly publication—a book chapter in an edited volume by Gail Thomas (the professor who taught the class).

Another piece of excellent advice was also given to me when I was in my Ph.D. Program by Dr. Alberto Dávila. While some of the classes were technical and uninspiring, I was reminded that once I finished my coursework and passed all the prelims (comprehensive exams), I would be able to delve into the most interesting part of the Program – doing research on topics of my own choice. That was an incentive that helped me get through that part of my program. I think almost everyone goes through a period of doubt in a Ph.D. Program; it was very much worthwhile for me to hang in there.

What’s the biggest misconception your students have about economics and economists?

I would say it has to do with not having a basic understanding of what economics is before they take college-level Econ classes. (I certainly didn’t when I started as an undergraduate.) Some think it is only about business, and others think it is only about math…but it is so much broader. I tell my students that economics is a very broad umbrella, and there is something in it for everyone.

On a related point, many people (not just students) are unaware that economics is considered to be part of STEM. It is a social science (which the “S” includes). In fact, the National Science Foundation has an Econ Directorate and funds research in economics.