Financial literacy: teaching appointment at the HfWU
Since the beginning of 2018 Katja Dofel has been an instructor at the College of Economy and Environment Nürtingen-Geislingen in Stuttgart, where she teaches economics students at the School of International Finance (SIF) in equity management and equity research. Some of this material includes fundamentals analysis, behavioral finance, charting technique, and addressing the development of the global economy as well as individual industries. But of course, financial literacy is important for all segments of the population.
Researching financial literacy at Goethe University Frankfurt
Since 2016 Katja Dofel has been collaborating on a scientific project at Johann Wolfgang von Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, in the area of economic education. This project deals with financial education among young adults, their gaps in knowledge, and opportunities for support.
Most young people in Germany are largely uninformed when it comes to economic and financial matters, as school curricula is often lacking or absent in these areas. This kind of knowledge belongs in our social system to bolster the confidence of self-sufficient individuals just as much as any other field of study.
Financial education is essential!
And from a social perspective, „the ability to deal with money and financial services is essential for every individual,“ as it provides us with decision-making power, and money is a central component of all economic relationships (Hoffmann, Barry, Breuer, 2015, 110). Deficient knowledge in the areas of finance and economics can bring entire families into existential crises, and many young people rightly perceive this deficiency.
And so the question is: how can schools and other institutions impart knowledge of economics and financial matters, through which media, and in what forms? And how do they help young people to recognize their individual economic interests, evaluate (advisory) services, and make economic decisions that help instead of harm them?
The project at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main includes conducting a number of surveys over a period of several years.
„Lexicon“ of deficient financial education
You can read Katja Dofel’s review of the „International Handbook of Financial Literacy“ by Carmela Aprea, Eveline Wuttke, and Klaus Breuer (et al.) on the website of the German Stock Exchange. This work was published by Springer Science Verlag (Singapore 2016).
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