Study presents golf as an innovation in the teaching of finance

Teaching finance is often challenging, requiring innovative strategies to engage students and faculty. An interesting approach is the use of golf as a metaphor to teach financial principles, taking advantage of its complexity and the cognitive and motor skills it develops, as well as its ability to establish informal corporate networks.

Wesley Mendes-da-Silva, a researcher at FGV's School of Business Administration (EAESP), conducted a pioneering experiment integrating golf notions and financial decisions in a 60-hour program, spread over five days, at a country club. The program featured golf professionals, designers, a military officer for lectures, and the participation of 30 students. During the course, fundamentals of golf and finance were presented, alternating practical sessions on the golf course with theoretical classes on financial decisions in startups and credit risk management.

Students also participated in a team golf tournament, illustrating the connections between the sport and the financial environment. The discipline occurred thanks to FGV EAESP's interaction with the market, in which Banco ABC understood the merits of the discussion, and supported the discipline, granting the participation of two executives, an event team and most of the financial costs resulting from the discipline.

The study revealed that the golf experience improved student engagement by promoting reflections on behaviors in corporate contexts and providing valuable tools to teach high-level financial principles and management. In addition, participants demonstrated a greater commitment to values essential to golf, such as ethics and planning, which were shown to be connected to the financial environment, helping to diagnose and address common psychological errors in financial behaviors.

The survey also highlighted the feasibility of integrating sustainable finance themes into golf finance programs, addressing topics such as ESG, compliance and corporate governance. This intersection between golf and corporate decisions offers a wide range of analogies for financial decision-making at both personal and corporate levels, positioning golf as a key tool for collaborative programs and the formation of professional networks. The article documenting the experiment has open data available to anyone interested, free of charge.

To read the full study, visit the website.