Moving online has not slowed EconSoc down! Their dedicated committee span all aspects of university life and all disciplines. They're working hard to support their members by creating support families and new activities.
This term EconSoc has been very active – moving online has not slowed us down, just increased our innovation! Our society revolves around all things Economics, for anyone from any discipline wanting to know more about the sector. We have a dedicated committee spanning all aspects of university life; covering careers, socials, sports, personal development and even merchandise!
Like many, we’ve been busy during lockdown creating our own Economics families. We now have 20 families, creating pockets of informal mentor support for all our members. Our families act as a buddy system, made up of grandparents (final year students), parents (second years) and children (first years). Creating small group chats has eased first years into university life, welcomed them into the society and helped establish those vital relationships.
This term a massive focus of ours has been inclusion. In the face of the pandemic, EconSoc has acted as a method to bring the virtual classroom into a community once again. Our new merchandise is further developing the community spirit amongst our members, helping create a brand and make people feel like they belong to something. We’ve created sweatshirts, fleeces and water bottles which all went on sale in the last week of term. This is something we are hugely excited about!
Our sports teams have become resilient and whilst sadly unable to play football, hockey or netball, we’ve set up a Fantasy Football league with currently 36 members competing against each other. We have put prizes in place to encourage involvement and found this has created a conversation for our members beyond those studying Economics degrees.
Our biggest achievements of the first term can no doubt be the guest speakers we have managed to secure – a personal highlight of mine was the talk with Lord Mervyn King, former Chairman of the Bank of England! We’ve created lots of opportunities online for our members, hoping to make them aware of all the different areas their degree or interest in economics can take them.
EconSoc has always taken a broad approach to careers, hence with our focus on inclusivity we have become more involved in more collaborations with other societies this term. With PolSoc, we have been involved in a debate on how much the pandemic will impact graduates. Whilst with Investment Society and Women in Finance, we attended the ‘Evening with Chris Clarke’ event, aiming to help our members get into a career in investment banking.
We are really looking forward to another term full of activities and events in the New Year!
Sophie
Vice-President of EconSoc
To find out more about the Economics Society visit their website www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps/econsoc.
There are 42 student groups associated with the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. To learn more about their projects and activities head to www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps-societies.
