Studying to Change the World

A HIGHLY QUANTITATIVE PROGRAM THAT, THANKS TO AN INTEGRATION WITH OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES, ALLOWS STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING HUMAN DECISIONS

“The Bachelor of Science in Economic and Social Sciences is an economics program with an interdisciplinary point of view, as well as a strongly analytical approach.” Chiara Fumagalli, Associate Professor at the Bocconi Department of Economics, who has been Director of BESS since 2018, wants to clear away any misunderstandings immediately.
“It is a program in which mathematics and statistics are predominant. It is an innovative BSc, taught in English, aimed at students with an international focus and big intellectual ambitions, with very few parallels at other universities in Europe. And Bocconi was definitely among the very first to launch a program with these features,” says Fumagalli. There are two aspects to highlight: "First, BESS focuses on the study of how individuals think and make decisions (for example on the topics of saving, energy consumption, education or health), which is a crucial area both for companies and organizations (as in the case of launching a new product) and for governments to develop economic policies (for example measures to combat poverty or unemployment)," continues Chiara Fumagalli.

"Secondly, the cornerstone of this innovative curriculum is that individual behavior is not determined solely by economic factors (i.e. what advantage is gained from a certain choice) but also by psychological elements (such as how emotional aspects and cognitive limits determine decisions) and social norms (how the behavior of others and shared social norms influence each person's decisions)."
Because it is in English, BESS has a high number of international students (about 50%), who choose this program with different objectives, but with a common starting point:

"Students enrolling in this BSc generally want to understand economic phenomena to improve the world,” the Program Director continues. "And in almost all cases they then choose to continue their studies with a Master of Science, though not always in economics. In fact, BESS does not rule out any options because it provides an essential foundation that allows students to choose any career path, from management to finance and more. In fact, after an MSc degree, our graduates work in a wide range of fields, from NGOs to social work and education, from finance to consultancy and economic journalism."

by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Jenna Walker