Financial Capability and Asset Building in Social Work Education: Is It “The Big Piece Missing?”

ABSTRACT

Although social workers recently have renewed the profession’s historical focus on the financial well-being of vulnerable families, they receive little professional education to prepare them for this work. This study examines the implementation and outcomes of infusing a financial capability and asset building (FCAB) curriculum in a variety of social work courses in 11 minority-serving baccalaureate colleges and universities. Analysis of in-depth interviews with 24 faculty and administrators finds that respondents believe students gained understanding and appreciation for FCAB. Faculty also reported greater confidence in teaching FCAB concepts and skills. Pre- and posttest surveys with 261 students indicate changed attitudes, confidence in helping clients with basic financial management, knowledge about financial capability, and improvement in some personal financial behaviors.

Notes

¹ A few resources exist, but they rarely are integrated into social work curricula. These include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2013, 2014), National Endowment for Financial Education (n.d.), Corporation for Enterprise Development (2015), and Loya, Boguslaw, and Erickson-Warfield (2015).

² One minority-serving institution founded as a Native American university enrolls students from surrounding tribal nations and is categorized as a TCU in this article.

³ In total, 17 instructors were trained, and 13 actually taught FCAB content. Those who did not include FCAB content gave the following reasons: lack of time, faculty layoffs, a change in position or course taught, and lack of financial resources to hire adjunct faculty.

⁴ Social work practice combines micro and mezzo practice courses because there was little difference in what instructors included in these two courses.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Margaret Sherraden

Margaret Sherraden is Founders Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and research professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Julie Birkenmaier is professor at St. Louis University. Gena G. McClendon is project director of the Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition and codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building, and Michael Rochelle is codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.

Julie Birkenmaier

Margaret Sherraden is Founders Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and research professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Julie Birkenmaier is professor at St. Louis University. Gena G. McClendon is project director of the Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition and codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building, and Michael Rochelle is codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.

Gena G. McClendon

Margaret Sherraden is Founders Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and research professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Julie Birkenmaier is professor at St. Louis University. Gena G. McClendon is project director of the Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition and codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building, and Michael Rochelle is codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.

Michael Rochelle

Margaret Sherraden is Founders Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and research professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Julie Birkenmaier is professor at St. Louis University. Gena G. McClendon is project director of the Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition and codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building, and Michael Rochelle is codirector of Financial Capability and Asset Building at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.