Going with the flow led this UNLV alum to a successful career in economics.
By Alainna Jayce Gonzales
Shawn McCoy was a typical UNLV student– a Vegas local who was commuting from his parent’s house with no clear idea of what career he wanted to pursue. Going down the accounting track, he stumbled upon his passion for economics in class.
“I studied economics for a few years with no plan. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t really care. I just enjoyed it that much,” he said. His go-with-the-flow mentality eventually led him to realize he wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in economics to become a professional researcher.
When asked how UNLV has changed since he was a student, he touched on Las Vegas’ recent economic development and its influence on students’ experiences.
“This no longer just included going hiking or going down to the clubs, which were massively fun for me when I was a student,” he laughed. “You have a wider variety of restaurants. You have a much larger variety of local spots that have been created by Vegas locals which I think is fun.”
Six years after graduating with his bachelor’s degree, McCoy returned to his alma mater as an associate professor. Today, he serves as the director of the Lied Center of Real Estate, sharing his insights and experiences with the next generation of UNLV students.
Are you from Las Vegas? If so, why’d you choose to study at UNLV?
Being born and raised in Vegas, I had an interest in working in Vegas. UNLV seemed like a natural fit for me. Also, I liked the commuter component. It's not that I liked the commuter component in and of itself. What I liked was the second-order effects. So many students who are young professionals who have families, that are working and going to school bring a whole different level of perspective into the classroom setting.
I also chose UNLV because it’s such an affordable environment. I did not want a bachelor's degree to be my terminal degree. Part of this was what schools do I like? But part of it is, it's still an investment decision – what makes the most sense financially? I couldn't find a better deal than UNLV. So thinking big picture I would argue that, in terms of bang for your buck, UNLV is perhaps one of the best universities in the United States.
How has UNLV changed from when you were a student?
One way UNLV has changed is that it's become more research-intensive. This is part of the evidence from UNLV receiving the Carnegie R1 research status.
In terms of other changes, most of the changes that I see are changes that the city as a whole is experiencing. Vegas is a more livable city now than it was when I grew up. There is a richer set of amenities that students can experience. That change reflects on the on-campus life. We're thinking more as a university about the role of economic development in the city. It has a direct impact on the quality of life, what people do, and what people want to do with their life. It manifests in the types of interests students have.
We've made strides in the quality of teaching educational experience. But I wouldn't call those UNLV-specific. I think most universities in the last 10 years have really improved. When I was in your shoes, we didn't have Canvas. I’d print the syllabus. I turned in homework on paper, and that was it. No video lectures, nothing. Now students take my class and can go watch a lecture that they missed –it changes everything. There were times when I was like, I'm not feeling good. Maybe I should just take a day off and rest and recharge, you can do that now. That has a direct benefit on how you progress through a job and through school.
I think our reputation has changed, too. Now UNLV has a larger reach, partially driven by students' terms with their placement, and partially driven by faculty, who are more research active and publishing more broadly. You hear UNLV’s name come up more and more. I remember, when I first started my career, it was like, “UNLV? Oh, I never saw someone from UNLV.”
Why did you choose to study economics? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to do?
No. I started off as a political science major. I worked in the construction business and I wanted to expand my skill set in running businesses. So, I came to the business school and started actually down the accounting track. Then I took Principles of Economics. In that discipline, it left me with a framework to understand not just how things work, but why they work the way they do. It enriched my understanding of politics in a way that even political science didn't give me. I didn't fully understand the connection between markets, public policy, public health, and real estate markets. Everything kind of came together within the economic methodology. This idea of being able to formulate hypotheses as to how X causes Y, validate them, and test those theories with empirics, and how to do that properly –I felt was empowering.
I studied economics for a few years with no plan. I didn't know what I was going to do, I didn’t really care, I just enjoyed it that much. Then I realized that I could do economic research professionally. So my second to last year, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in economics with the intent of being a professional researcher. That sort of set the tone for my career.
I went with the flow. And I think it really paid off. I think many students think that their degree has a larger impact on the directions they go than in reality, and I thought that. I thought, ‘Okay, do I want to be an economist? Do economics. Do I want to be a financial analyst? Do finance. Do I want to be in real estate? Do real estate.’ Students need to be aware that their degree does not define their trajectory in the professional world. Far from it.
How was your experience pursuing a doctorate degree? And how is it different from being a student at UNLV?
For starters, once I finished that degree, I no longer just said, “I think I can do anything.” I actually believed it.
The quantitative component of the Ph.D., I was extremely strong in that area. Research though, is a whole different animal. I felt like an ant at the bottom of a massive glass jar and the goal was to climb out. You infer– falsely so –that because everything's made of glass, it's impossible. But perspective was the problem. You start looking around that jar and you will stumble upon something. There's a chip right there in the glass. I didn't see that before. Now I could reach up and hold onto it. And I could look for another imperfection in the glass and jump over and grab onto that one. Research is much like that. That experience was immensely challenging. The outcome was a massive amount of confidence to be able to do new things.
It inspired confidence that if I really wanted to go after a new career, or a new research project, or a new job, I absolutely could have figured that out. It changed my life because that confidence inspired confidence in others to put the Lied Center for Real Estate under the realm of my responsibility because that's what it takes.
And pursuing a Ph.D. is just fun for different reasons. You'll have students from around the world in your program. I understood what it was like being in a diverse environment from going to UNLV. This was different. It was diverse, not just in racial, and ethnic dimensions, but in age, experience, country, and language. I thought that it was just fascinating hearing everybody's story and getting to really know everybody. You're with a group of seven to 10 people for six years of your life in an office environment. So developing those relationships and watching everybody go down different paths was really fun.
How did you become the director of the Lied Center for Real Estate?
Lied was looking to hire a new director for real estate. I have extensive experience in real estate research. When they were looking for the position, there was a natural fit for me to effectively move up into this particular role.
What’s your favorite part about teaching?
What I like the most about it is when we are in a classroom setting, and students ask a question that I never thought of before. And we pause the class and start thinking about it and solving it, and arrive at some successful outcome. It's all organic and unplanned and natural and very, at the heart of what academia is supposed to be about.
Outside of the workplace, what's your favorite thing to do? Do you have any hobbies or interests?
I have two. My wife and I love doing home remodeling. We've gutted our home and redone the near entirety of the property. She designs it and I build it. Redoing the kitchen, adding bathrooms, adding bedrooms, redoing electrical, I mean, you name it. I love the feeling of knowing that anything I want in my home, if I can't buy it, I can make it. I love the process of being able to tell my kids I built a 12-and-a-half-foot dining room poxy table, it's beautiful.
Another personal hobby is riding Hard Enduro dirt bikes, mountain single track – joy of my life. It gives me a sufficient break. I like tiring myself out.