Lower-Order Mathematical Thinking Skills in Finance, from the Viewpoint of Financial Employees in the Iranian Bank of Industry and Mine

In this paper, lower-order mathematical thinking skills within finance were studied from the viewpoint of financial employees in the Iranian Bank of Industry and Mine. To conduct this research, a questionnaire was developed after reviewing lower-order mathematical thinking skills in finance. In accordance with the revised Bloom's taxonomy, the skills considered in the questionnaire were "remembering mathematics in finance", "understanding mathematics in finance", and "applying mathematics in finance". In order to develop the questionnaire, we conducted interviews with employees and scholars, then a suitable sample familiar with mathematics and finance, consisting of 141 bank employees, was studied. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Our findings show a hierarchical relationship between the first three mathematical thinking skills in finance, which confirms the revised Bloom's taxonomy. In addition, the attitudes of participants were positive concerning the importance of these skills. Participants believed that, in order to achieve proper functioning, it is essential to improve the skills of financial employees. The results were analysed with a T-test and ANOVA. This showed that the gender, position, experience, department, degree, and field of study of participants did not affect their attitudes. This research indicates that, for the successful utilisation of skills, it is essential to form an effective relationship between mathematical science and its practical application in the banking world. It is recommended to hold on-the-job training courses for financial employees in banks to empower them to use their computational skills.