Incorporating Human

Literacy in Finance Education

Pankaj K Maskara, PhD, CFA

Associate Professor, Nova Southeastern University

Necessity is the mother of all

inventions

Need for innovation

• Student – Teacher connection has decreased over the years

• A large percentage of the students take class online

• Increasing adoption of AI makes non-technical human factors

even more relevant for employability and / or entrepreneurial

success

• Catch 22 (First job <> lack of experience)

& other low-cost alternatives

may become acceptable replacements

unless

WE can enhance our

value proposition

My innovation framework

• Create necessity for students to

• Try something new

• Deal with uncertainty

• Connect with others

• Manage perceptions / expectations

• Release inhibitions towards reaching out

for help

Entrepreneurial

Mindset

Student expects

to be asked a

question

The question

has one right

answerThe student

provides the

right answer

The student gets

good grade

Student Mentality in Finance Courses

Sad encounter with truth !

Syllabus Lecture Assignments Grades

Tools at our disposal

Let us use them

Syllabus Set & Manage Expectations

Lectures Justify Class Structure & Motivate

Assignment / Quizzes Create Necessity

Grades Incentivize & Enforce Compliance

Syllabus

• Risk management is essential component of Finance

• Uncertainty is in-built feature of the course

• You will make decisions in the environment of incomplete / imperfect / downright incorrect information

• Set expectations

• Success in the course does not depend on finding the right answer to the question.

• Life does not present a question, you have to identify it.

• You know that your identification may be wrong but you still have to act.

Lecture

• When faced with unorthodox class structure the students WILL complain

• The lectures are the time to take students into confidence and to

• Convince them that the class structure is for their learning

• Provide examples of student success

• Make them believe that we care about them

• Communicate that course requirements are non-negotiable

• Be Firm

• Connect, inspire, & motivate

Major Assignments –

The Meat and Potatoes

• Team leading project

• Field project

• Video presentation

• Random assignments

These are only some of the

assignments that I use

I update structure every term to

maintain novelty

They can be modified to suit different

courses & unique circumstances

Team Leading Project

• Venting – common anxiety results in bonding

• Only the leader’s grade is at stake

• Repeated game context

• Any legal & moral activity permitted to encourage creativity

• In-person/ virtual meeting allowed as long as it is synchronous and has video

• Team changes every week – randomly assigned

Benefits

• Students feel a sense of belonging even in online class

• Student – student interaction becomes more meaningful

• Student retention and graduation increases

• Student well-being improves

• Life long relevant network

• They learn to depend on each other for non-class issues also

• Some start using this resource right away for field projects & other class requirements and/or personal business

• Become socially and culturally aware

The Field Project

• Find a way to meet senior management of two different organizations

• One organization can be your current place of employment

• Organizations should be of sufficient size to attract your class peers

• Research the organization & look for opportunities to improve profitability / operations

• Pitch your consultancy service

• In the case of your employer, pitch the project as suggestion based on data & observations.

• May not pitch to your direct supervisor

• Clear instruction that grade is not dependent on outcome of the consulting pitch

Outcomes

• Identify connections and resources that they have never considered before

• Reach back into the past and reconnect

• Recognize the power of taking an initiative

• Building bridges for the future – jobs, promotions, internships, business opportunities

• Handling rejection, resilience, & perseverance

• Experience of communicating with senior management

• Overcoming hesitation & anxiety, stepping outside of their comfort zone

• Selling experience - Gaining self confidence

Cannot Lose Proposition

• Society more receptive to requests from students

• Student gains in confidence. Knows he can do it. Will likely try again.

• The student appears to be taking initiative even when doing it for grades

• Develops an eye for inefficiencies as opportunities

• Even when rejected

• Lose fear of communicating with people of higher status

• Learn to handle rejection and continue to march forward

Additional Benefits

• Actual application of knowledge in real-world situation

• Enhances the image of the university among employers

• Thereby, enhancing the perceived value of the degree itself

• Student is extremely proud of his work

• Becomes the mouthpiece for the programs and the university – word of mouth

publicity

• Enhances alumni network and giving

Video presentation

• Topic of student’s interest

• Cutting-edge technology

• Need to promote their video

• Build Portfolio – signaling mechanism

• Exposure to a broad range of current topics

• Hone both multimedia and presentation skills

Random assignments

• Enhance time-management skills

• Important component of navigating uncertainty

• Allows for introduction and testing of new assignments / learning tools

• Can be customized for each course to meet course objectives

• Allows for differentiation between courses from semester to semester

Grading

• Emphasis on effort and creativity instead of ‘The right answer’

• Challenge

• Makes grading more subjective

• Requires additional effort

• Opportunity

• Allows student the opportunity to practice their perceptions management skills

• Allows us to continually practice and enhance our motivational & leadership skills

Outcomes

Outcomes in the recent semester

• Total students = 45

• Got new project at work – 9 students

• Likely to lead to promotion – 3 students

• Got promotion – 3 students

• Got bonus – 1 student

• Got paid consulting gig – 4 students

• Job offers – 6 students

• Internship opportunity – 2 students

• Mentorship – 2 students

• Business opportunity – 2 students

• Opportunity to meet with billionaire – 1

• Unique successful students = 20

* Possible upward reporting bias

Lets sum it up

• Innovation: A framework to force students out of their comfort

zone and develop entrepreneurial mindset

• Simple Requirements:

• The willingness to engage with students at a relatively deeper level and to

manage their perception of our motivations

• No additional resources / skills / connections required

• Applicable to both traditional and online class structures

Lets sum it up - Benefits

• Enhance the perception of finance people as more than just numbers people

— people with human skills

• Enhance value proposition of higher education

• Make students more employable

• Nourish entrepreneurial mindset

• Internalize the financial concepts of risk & managing expectations

“Thank you Dr. Maskara for providing

this opportunity to step out of our

comfort zone, connect with someone

who we’ve never had a connection with

before and allowing us to partner up and

help each other enhance our professional

image. I cannot thank you enough.”

- Says a student

Thank you

Lets not forget why we chose to be a teacher.

There is nothing more noble.