Literacy to Financial Literacy: Evolution of Competency and its Contemporary Imperatives

  • Unique Paper ID: 190768
  • PageNo: 4880-4888
  • Abstract:
  • The definition of Literacy has evolved over a period of time to encompass within its fold not only the ability to read and write, but competencies like critical thinking, interpretative and application-based skills in a highly complex social and global context. This paper has extracted certain definitions of the construct Literacy from dictionaries, experts, and global reports like those published by the UNESCO and OECD, to derive its essential constituents which have evolved from reading, writing, numerical ability, gathering information, gaining knowledge and its critical analysis and application, emphasizing on the functional aspect of the construct. This exercise is further extended to the prerequisite for understanding the connect between literacy and financial literacy-a derivative of Literacy. The ensuing goal being to correlate the components of literacy with financial literacy, encompassing knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviour in the context of reading, understanding and analysing financial documents, numerical ability in financial settings and their application to achieve financial empowerment, freedom and sustainability. This study is designed to exemplify the evolution of literacy followed by deriving the crucial components required for conceptualising and operationalising the construct Financial Literacy in an evolving, complex financial landscape.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{190768,
        author = {Dr. Meenakshi Wagh},
        title = {Literacy to Financial Literacy: Evolution of Competency and its Contemporary Imperatives},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {4880-4888},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=190768},
        abstract = {The definition of Literacy has evolved over a period of time to encompass within its fold not only the ability to read and write, but competencies like critical thinking, interpretative and application-based skills in a highly complex social and global context. This paper has extracted certain definitions of the construct Literacy from dictionaries, experts, and global reports like those published by the UNESCO and OECD, to derive its essential constituents which have evolved from reading, writing, numerical ability, gathering information, gaining knowledge and its critical analysis and application, emphasizing on the functional aspect of the construct. This exercise is further extended to the prerequisite for understanding the connect between literacy and financial literacy-a derivative of Literacy. The ensuing goal being to correlate the components of literacy with financial literacy, encompassing knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviour in the context of reading, understanding and analysing financial documents, numerical ability in financial settings and their application to achieve financial empowerment, freedom and sustainability.
This study is designed to exemplify the evolution of literacy followed by deriving the crucial components required for conceptualising and operationalising the construct Financial Literacy in an evolving, complex financial landscape.},
        keywords = {Literacy, Financial Literacy, Conceptualisation, Operationalisation},
        month = {February},
        }

Cite This Article

Wagh, D. M. (2026). Literacy to Financial Literacy: Evolution of Competency and its Contemporary Imperatives. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT). https://doi.org/doi.org/10.64643/IJIRTV12I8-190768-459

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