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Expanding Horizons: Financial Education
Financial education, with its focus on practical training and functional knowledge, can have a significant impact on promoting economic involvement and driving development. Especially for those without formal schooling, these education programs provide a means to develop essential skills for business and employment, independence, or family support. More than just imparting basic money management skills, financial education empowers people to make informed decisions and participate in local economies which further contributes to society (Garcia et al., 2013). In regions marked by economic disparities and gender inequalities, this knowledge afforded by this form of education emerges as a key element in building a more equitable society.
Developing Equality through Education:
Disparate economic standings significantly contribute to inequality, and knowledge is essential to change individual circumstances. It is astounding how basic literacy in financial matters can improve financial inclusion among the most vulnerable populations and contribute to the fight against socioeconomic and gender inequalities (Garcia et al., 2013). In this way it is easy to understand why financial literacy education, particularly in developing economies, directly contributes to multiple United Nations defined sustainable development goals, two of which are SDG 5 and SDG 10.
- SDG 5 – Gender Equality: Financial education is pivotal in empowering women. By equipping women with the training to achieve financial literacy, they gain skills not only to open businesses but also to manage household finances and find financial independence (BBVA, 2020). This empowerment enhances women’s economic standing improving their ability to open and run businesses and manage finances effectively. This is further translated into greater participation in the economy at large as well as within households, which is a key step towards achieving gender equality (BBVA, 2020).
- SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities: Financial education for adults, particularly those from underserved populations, addresses economic inequalities. Equipping these individuals with essential entrepreneurial skills and financial capabilities, the programs foster economic independence and create opportunities for upward social mobility, much as they do for women (Valerio et al., 2014). This kind of education directly contributes to a more equitable distribution of economic resources and opportunities.
Financial Education: Focus on Latin America
Recent data highlights the need for financial education in Latin America, particularly for women and underrepresented groups. For example, surveys in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru show that only 33% of women are independently making financial decisions, in contrast to 48% of men, with Ecuador at the highest level of disparity, 18% between men and women in this regard (CAF, 2022). These figures not only reveal existing inequalities but also illustrate the potential of such education programs to advance SDG 5 by empowering women in financial matters.
In addition to advancing gender equality, financial education programs can also foster economic stability and growth. A program in Peru and the Dominican Republic demonstrated how entrepreneurial training with financial education can lead to increased business revenue and personal savings among participants, a finding that supports the objectives of SDG 10 in reducing economic inequalities (Valerio et al., 2014). By addressing both poverty and lack of opportunity, these programs are not just educational; they are empowering tools for development.
The growing recognition of the positive impacts of financial education has led to the formation of the International Network on Financial Education (INFE). Comprising over 260 institutions, INFE is dedicated to developing research and policy tools to further enhance financial and entrepreneurial education (OCDE & CAF, 2020). Currently this network includes 51 public authorities in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region (OECD, n.d.).
Latin American Countries Participating in the OECD/INFE
(Garcia et al., 2013)
Despite the promising impact there are notable gaps and challenges in these programs that include limited access in remote or rural areas, potential gender biases in program delivery, and the sustainability of funding sources. Additionally, the effectiveness of these programs can vary significantly based on regional economic conditions, cultural factors, and a lack of sufficiently measured outcomes (OCDE & CAF, 2020). Addressing these issues can ensure that programs meet the diverse needs of those who need such education the most and successfully provide access to financial knowledge and skill development. This educational approach takes a needed step towards diminishing inequalities and enhancing gender equality.
- Valerio, A., Parton, B., & Robb, A. (2014). Entrepreneurship education and training programs around the world: Dimensions for success. The World Bank.
- CAF. (2022, March). There is no Gender Equality without Financial Inclusion. CAF News. https://www.caf.com/en/currently/news/2022/03/there-is-no-gender-equality-without-financial-inclusion/.
- BBVA. (2020, February 17). To what extent does financial education influence gender equality? NEWS BBVA. https://www.bbva.com/en/sustainability/to-what-extent-does-financial-education-influence-gender-equality/
- OCDE/CAF. (2020). Estrategias nacionales de inclusión y educación financiera en América Latina y el Caribe: Retos de implementación. OCDE.
- Garcia, N., Grifoni, A., Lopez, J.C. and Mejía, D., (2013), “Financial Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Rationale, Overview and Way Forward”, OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions, No.33, OECD Publishing.
- OECD. (n.d.). Latin America and the Caribbean. OECD Financial Education. https://www.oecd.org/financial/education/oecd-cvm-financial-education.htm
International Education for Sustainable Development: Tackling the UN SDGs through Education Abroad
Credit: Svetlana Kijevčanin
In the United States, increasing numbers of inbound and outbound students have gained interest in global issues like climate change and higher education’s response to it. For the U.S. international education sector, this response has manifested in the inclusion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in international education programs. The UN SDGs are “an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership” to tackle the wicked problems impacting societies across the globe, which, in addition to climate change, also include issues like hunger, poverty, and social inequality.
Interest in the UN SDGs has grown in recent years for students, higher education institutions, and international education organizations. In response, the Forum for Education Abroad (FEA), for example, now provides guidance to and resources for international education practitioners in using education abroad to advance the UN SDGs. Additionally, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has aligned their study abroad programs with the UN SDGs. Using available program information to match each study abroad program to one or more SDGs, IUPUI allows students to select which programs to participate in based on which UN SDGs they’re interested in.
FEA provides two definitions for international education, one for the field, and another for participants. FEA defines the international education field as “a field involved in facilitating and supporting the migration of students and scholars across geopolitical borders. Professionals…may be employees of educational institutions, government agencies, or independent program and service providers.” For participants, international education is defined as “the knowledge and skills resulting from conducting a portion of one’s education in another country. As a more general term, this definition applies to international activity that occurs at any level of education (K-12, undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate)”. As such, not only can education abroad support sustainable development in the U.S., it can also be used to support sustainable development abroad. While education abroad programming can support sustainable development by targeting multiple UN SDGs, all programs, whether through their structure or through participants who leverage their education abroad experiences in their future work, achieve this through UN SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals. More specifically, education abroad programs achieve sustainable development through UN SDG 17.17, which seeks to “encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships”.
Education abroad, where participants cross national borders to engage in a learning experience through a program offered by a higher education institution, governmental, or provider organization, is just one facet of international education. Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between the inclusion of the UN SDGs and education abroad program outcomes. For example, a recent study published by Zhang and Gibson (2021) investigating the long-term impact of study abroad on attitudes and behaviors regarding sustainability uncovered that participants had still maintained a mindset that prioritized sustainability, engaged in behaviors promoting low-waste and responsible consumption, and that the program had impacted their career trajectories towards work with a focus on sustainability. This aligns with UN SDG Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production, although on an individual level. Despite the benefits of education abroad for promoting individual-level sustainable practices and mindsets, participants must also grapple with the environmental costs associated with education abroad, an idea explored by recent research from Campbell, Nguyen, and Stewart (2022). Other education abroad programs that can be used to target other SDGs, such as SDG 15 (life on land) and SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) include the University of Wyoming’s Silk Road and Beyond: Historical and Environmental Treasures program in Uzbekistan and Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ experiential learning programs like Peace and Reconciliation in the Balkans and Exploring Sustainable Agriculture Transitions in Rural Colombia.
Education abroad can also support progress towards the UN SDGs through programs designed for participants to come to the United States. Evidence suggests that investing in community leaders through education abroad and international education scholarship programs can lead to improvements in leadership effectiveness and other knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs) that can benefit both the public and private sectors as well as local communities. One education abroad program focusing on this is the International Research and Exchanges Board’s (IREX) Community Solutions Program (CSP). Since 2010, CSP has supported 739 fellows from 83 countries that have impacted more than 600,000 people through follow-on community development initiatives as a result of program partnerships with 419 host organizations in 40 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The U.S. practicum and follow-on initiatives that program alumni engage in can – and have – targeted a number of UN SDGs, like UN SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 3 (good health and well-being). For example, CSP 22’ recipient Bogatoz Kozhakhmetova plans to support rural women’s economic empowerment through social entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan. CSP 18’ recipient Daren Paul Katigbak supported education and outreach initiatives related to HIV and sexual health in the U.S., and continued this work in the Philippines. Other programs that could be aligned with the UN SDGs include the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and the Fulbright Program.
The UN SDGs present an opportunity for the U.S. international education sector to consider including the SDGs in education abroad programming not only for recruitment purposes but also in solidifying education abroad as a vehicle for supporting local, national, and international efforts to address issues impacting governments, societies, and individuals. However, the inclusion of the UN SDGs does not have to stop at education abroad programming. The UN SDGs, as Cordell states, also present an opportunity to “revisit strategic investments…in scholarships and exchanges…[and] training and workforce programs, national-level university systems, and youth empowerment programs”. Thus, the applicability of the UN SDGs can extend beyond U.S. education abroad programs to include various other programs benefiting individuals at both the domestic and international levels.
References
Botagoz Kozhakhmetova | IREX. (n.d.). Www.irex.org; IREX. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.irex.org/people/botagoz-kozhakhmetova
Campbell, A. C., Nguyen, T., & Stewart, M. (2022). Promoting International Student Mobility for Sustainability? Navigating Conflicting Realities and Emotions of International Educators. Journal of Studies in International Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153221121386
Community Solutions | IREX. (n.d.). Www.irex.org; IREX. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.irex.org/project/community-solutions
Cordell, K. (2021, September 24). The Sustainable Development Goals: A Playbook for Reengagement. Www.csis.org; Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/sustainable-development-goals-playbook-reengagement
Daren Paul Katigbak | IREX. (n.d.). Www.irex.org; IREX. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.irex.org/people/daren-paul-katigbak
Forum for Education Abroad. (2021). Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad. https://doi.org/10.36366/g.978-1-952376-09-2
Hellman, K. (2022, October 6). International Education: A Catalyst for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Network.nafsa.org; NAFSA. https://network.nafsa.org/blogs/dale-lafleur1/2022/10/06/international-education-a-catalyst-for-the-unsdgs
Kendall, N., Kaunda, Z. & Friedson-Rideneur, S. (2015). Community participation in international development education quality improvement efforts: current paradoxes and opportunities. Educ Asse Eval Acc 27, 65–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-015-9210-0
Marschner, D. (2022, May 14). When it comes to studying abroad, SDGs matter to students. University World News: The Global Window on Higher Education; University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220510135024393
Martel, M. (2019). Leveraging Higher Education to Promote Social Justice: Evidence from the IFP Alumni Tracking Study. Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program Alumni Tracking Study, Report No. 5 New York, NY: Institute of International Education
Musa, E. (2012). Impact of ford foundation international fellowships program (IFP) on leadership effectiveness in kenya [Thesis]. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/96697
O’Malley, B. (2023, February 11). Survey shows universities accelerating action for SDGs. University World News; University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230211062743570
Study abroad and the sdgs: apply to a program: study abroad: indiana university-purdue university indianapolis. (n.d.). Abroad.iupui.edu; Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://abroad.iupui.edu/apply-program/sa-sdgs/index.html
United Nations. (2015). The 17 Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Winter, Spring, and Summer Experiential Learning Courses | Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. (n.d.). Www.middlebury.edu. Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/immersive-learning-study-abroad/semester-practica
WyoGlobal Alumni | Global Engagement Office | University of Wyoming. (n.d.). Www.uwyo.edu; University of Wyoming. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.uwyo.edu/global/get-involved/wyoglobal-alumni.html
Zhang, H., and Gibson, J. (2021). “Long-Term Impact of Study Abroad on Sustainability-Related Attitudes and Behaviors” Sustainability 13, No. 4: 1953. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041953
Judy Wyatt – Final Blog Post fin
Sustainable Development Goal 4.0 (SDG 4) – QUALITY EDUCATION
The relationship between international education development and SDG 4, Quality Education is complex for many reasons; however, 3 key areas stand out for me: 1) the United Nations must rely on educators to add the necessary curriculum and programs to support the education goals requiring development through collaboration of many stakeholders; 2) there is an educational component to all 17 of the SDGs, i.e. No Poverty, SDG 1, Good Health, SDG 3, or Gender Equality, SDG 5 making the challenges for educators even greater; and 3) the fact that not all areas of the world share the same living conditions and basic needs of food and shelter must be met before traditional learning and educational efforts can be effective.
Key words: access, inclusion, equitable, measurable, achievable, sustainable
The United Nations ratified the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and set 2030 as the target year for achievement. See this link for a summary of all SDG Goals.
THE 17 GOALS | https://sdgs.un.org/goals
The focus of this blog will be on SDG 4, Quality Education which has 10 targets. The overall goal states:
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
The target year 2030 is now being threatened by the pandemic, political unrest, and climate change. See the chart below from the United Nations 2022 Report which illustrates the magnitude of the threat to achieving SDG 4 and the link to a short report on progress and information on SDG 4. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4
According to the United Nations, the 7 factors creating the greatest risk for achieving all Sustainable Development Goals are (United Nations, 2023):
01. Cascading crises put the SDGs at risk.
02. COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the SDGs.
03. Conflicts are destroying the lives of many and destabilizing the world.
04. We are in the grips of a climate catastrophe and the window to avert it is rapidly closing.
05. The vulnerable are being hit the hardest.
06. Data and statistics can light the way.
07. SDGs are our roadmap out of crises and for our own survival.
Here is a link to the full text of the 7 factors: KEY MESSAGES
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 in full can be reviewed by clicking on this link: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
It is important to measure the outcomes of global learning to determine if they are, in fact, advancing the Sustainability Goals. OECD has charged educators with the task of achieving the Sustainability Development Goal for Education and, in 2018, created a measurement tool to assess global competence. OECD added global competence in addition to quality, equity, and effectiveness for measuring success.
OECD Program for International Student Assessment, the PISA Global Competence Framework
There is an urgent need for accelerating the work to have any hope of accomplishing the aggressive goals. UNESCO is the lead organization for the delivery of Sustainable Goal 4 and created the Global Education Cooperative Mechanism in November 2021, to reimagine and speed up the process through collective action and joint accountability (UNESCO, 2023).
Watch this short video which helps explain how UNESCO is partnering to do the work needed to achieve Sustainable Goal 4. The Global Education Cooperation Mechanism
In a two-page report reviewing the Global Education Cooperative Mechanism, one important new development is the creation of a 2023 scorecard to monitor progress on SDG 4 (UNESCO, 2023)
In summary, the report states:
- Data collection is a primary problem – ½ of the countries have no data on math or a percent of trained teachers in primary school
- much of the data that does exist shows regression and a need for support
- barely 1 in 3 countries are well positioned to achieve their national benchmarks by 2025 – mostly richer countries
- Rwanda is the only low-income country to achieve fast progress
- most low-income countries either have insufficient data or no national targets
- lower medium-income countries are managing slow change
Here is the link to the full report –https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000384273
As you can see from this blog, the hope for 100% quality education for all by 2030 is beyond ambitious. The good news is that in many parts of the world there is progress.
References:
OECD (2023). Global Competency for an Inclusive World, PISA, Preparing our Youth for an Inclusive and Sustainable World, The OECD PISA, Global Competence Framework
https://www.oecd.org/education/Global-competency-for-an-inclusive-world.pdf
United Nations. (2023). Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development Goals
UNESCO. (2023). Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4
The Global Education Cooperation Mechanism
UNESCO. (January 2023). Where do we stand with the Education 2030 agenda?
What you need to know about Leading SDG4 – Education 2030
UNESCO. (2023). 2023 SDG4 scorecard on progress towards national SDG 4 benchmarks: key findings
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000384273
United Nations. (2023). Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development
