The goal of research undertaken by WFI is to learn what women know about money and personal finance and what they do about these matters in their daily lives. Results contribute to better financial education for current students and alumnae as well as to the scholarship on the subject.
Surveys
2009
Survey of Educated Women's Financial Knowledge, Behavior and Attitudes
In October 2009, WFI launched a pioneering survey to study educated women's financial knowledge, behavior and attitudes towards money. Over 4,500 Smith College alumnae completed the comprehensive online survey. The results from this rich dataset, that includes information about age, household income, and type of degree obtained, will be reported in a series of articles that examine how educated women learn about finances, manage their assets, make financial decisions, and save for retirement; their sense of financial security, and their assessment of their own financial mistakes.
2005
Survey of Financial Knowledge and Practice Among College Students
In January 2005, Smith College's Women and Financial Independence program completed an online survey that was administered to 2,765 undergraduates, graduate and professional students nationwide. The objectives of the survey were to assess students' financial knowledge, practices and attitudes with regard to credit cards, investing, financial aid, and student loans. The primary goal was to apply findings toward creating a financial education curricula that effectively targets the needs of different groups of college students in different institutional settings to better foster their present and future financial stability.
