Gender and the coordinated management of meaning in women's perception of finance

This study used standpoint feminism and the theory of coordinated management of meaning as theoretical foundations to explore the ways in which women co-create and co-maintain meanings of finance within their lived experiences. By reconciling standpoint feminism with its Marxist roots, standpoint feminism provided a lens in which women’s lives can be examined through their narratives about financial engagement and meanings. The theory of coordinated management of meaning provided six levels of abstraction to aid in the examination of rules and roles which constrain/restrain or empower women with regard to their financial lives. Thirty face-to-face interviews using feminist interviewing techniques were conducted over a period of two months with women from various age group, marital status, race, educational level and income level. The data collected was analyzed and interpreted using NVivo, a computer software program, during the initial coding and sorting stages and subsequently, manual coding was used to uncover themes within the findings. Findings from this study indicated that there are five contracts (relationships) which are significant to women’s construction of financial knowledge: significant other, parent(s), immediate family (including siblings and grandparents), professionals and friends (close friends and coworkers). Out of these five relationships, contracts with the significant other were cited by 28 of the participants as the one relationship which had the most involvement in shaping participants’ financial engagement. The episodes in women’s lives which were most influential in shaping their financial management style were childhood memories related to money matters, unexpected expenses during their lives and life-altering situations. These episodes were especially vivid in the respondents’ minds and often caused a change in the ways they manage their finances after the episodes occurred. Women form life-scripts for communicating financial information based on a combination of contracts and episodes in their lives. Findings from this study indicated that women’s life-scripts were dynamic and adjusted frequently depending on the relationship and past experiences they had with the other person. Along with life-scripts, the Teacher/Guide, Gambler/Speculator, Apprentice and Mother/Nurturer archetypes were also featured prominently through participants’ narratives and influenced the ways in which roles were played out in women’s financial lives. This study also shed light on the financial challenges unique to women’s lived experiences. First of all, ”financial freedom” was a contested term for participants. Second, financial security had contested meanings within women’s lives. Third, the role of women as mother/nurturer created financial tensions within women’s lives. Fourth, women who want to learn about finances often found themselves having a lack of financial vocabulary to articulate their financial concerns. The findings of this study contribute to both standpoint feminism and the theory of coordinated management of meaning in various ways. Also, this study contributed to the theory of coordinated management of meaning (CMM) by showing that individuals are able to co-create and co-maintain meanings even in the absence of a shared content. This study also proposed that financial communication should become an area of concentration within the field of communication because discussions of financial engagement and practices were prevalent issues. Finally, this study offered several practical implications to financial educators, the financial marketing industry and financial literacy programs. Firstly, there should be financial literacy programs targeting women of younger age groups because this study found that women began to learn about financial practices as early as during their childhood. Secondly, since parents were most influential during children’s childhood in terms of imparting financial knowledge, there should be programs aimed at helping parents communicate positive financial practices to their children. In addition, it might be worthwhile to formulate financial literacy programs where both parents and their children can participate together. Besides suggestions for financial educators and financial literacy programs, this study also provided valuable clues for financial professionals. Women in this study were more trusting of financial professionals who had a non-financial relationship with them in addition to being their financial adviser. Thus, financial professionals should try to increase their visibility and credibility within their local communities in the interest of increasing their business opportunities. Lastly, this study also indicated that women tend to perceive financial advisers whom they have no personal relationship with as being mercenary and high-risk gamblers. The financial industry should try to correct their image of financial advisers and also consider revising payment options such that the adviser’s fees are not tied to the amount of investment of his/her client. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)