Incorporating Human Literacy in Finance Education Pankaj K Maskara, PhD, CFA Associate Professor, Nova Southeastern University
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.