Teaching to think: Challenges and suitability of teaching inequality topics in a business school

This article explores the teaching of inequality in economics through two case studies. By employing a critical pedagogical approach that discusses non-dominant forms of knowledge, we demonstrate how two inequality topics – gender and trade – provide a platform for rethinking standard forms of economic and social knowledge. A detailed analysis of two modules, Political Economy and International Trade and Multinational Business, reveals an openness and interest in real world examples and active learning methods. Through these, student responses indicate an emerging acceptance and positive response to topics of inequality as the basis for critical thinking. Nevertheless, students also indicate frustration with the difficulty in matching the real world to current theoretical frameworks, and the uncertainty that critical pedagogical approaches point to. The findings also suggest that improved knowledge of different empirical approaches may be useful to focus student interest and address areas of frustration during the process of learning