Dollars And Sense

Alumna Ellen L.S. Koplow launched a course on women's finances that she co-teaches alongside Seung-Kyung Kim, associate professor and chair of the Department of Women's Studies.

By Kimberly Marselas, Between the Columns

A new course inspired by a female-alumna-turned-financial executive aims to help women consider new professional possibilities while improving their personal finance skills.

Supported by a $50,000 grant from TD Ameritrade, “Gender and Financial Well-Being” grew out of a 2012 lecture series on gender, finance and power. The talks featured visiting scholars and finance executives from around the country who wanted to open students’ eyes to opportunities in male-dominated industries.

“If we could educate more on personal finance, investments and the importance of economic stability as a platform from which a person can achieve whatever goals they choose, then the gender equity disparity might begin to narrow,” says Ellen L.S. Koplow ’80, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

Koplow is co-teaching the class alongside Seung-Kyung Kim, associate professor and chair of the Department of Women’s Studies. After being named a distinguished alumna in 2011, Koplow wanted to work with the university on gender-equity issues. She helped form a women’s initiative at TD Ameritrade and brought some of that program’s principles to Kim. 

The course launched in January with 31 students. It’s examining how cultural and legislative changes might narrow power differentials between men and women, how the current U.S. economy effects women at work, and the role of female entrepreneurs.

Kim says the class “fits with the mission of women’s studies in striving for social justice and gender equality.” But it also has a practical side because it provides insight into careers in finance, including a recruitment event highlighting women’s roles at TD Ameritrade. Students also receive financial basics from Alexa Von Tobel, founder of LearnVest, a program that teaches budgeting, long-term planning and portfolio building.

“Many students will graduate with considerable student loan debt and face a very tough job market, so it is important for them to learn the crucial skills required to manage one’s own finances,” says Kim.