Guidelines for developing undergraduate student activities to promote financial discipline according to sufficiency economy philosophy in Silpakorn University

Abstract

This research aims to 1) study Silpakorn undergraduate’s financial discipline 2) find guidelines to develop student activities to promote their financial discipline according to the Sufficiency Economy philosophy. The participants of this study were 420 Silpakorn undergraduates who studied in semester 2 of the Academic Year 2018 from 14 Faculties: 30 students from each Faculty, and 7 key informants. However, the group of students was chosen

by Krejcie & Morgan: mix methodology of quantitative and qualitative research.  The data were collected by questionnaires asking about the behavioral finance of the students, and Focus Group Discussion discussing how to advance student activities to encourage students’ financial discipline. In addition, the data were analyzed

by analytic statistics which are percentage, average and standard deviation: S.D., and content analysis.

            The findings analyzed by questionnaires showed that the number of students applying the knowledge of Sufficiency Economy philosophy in their behavioral finance was at a high level
(= 4.12, S.D. = 0.76), and the number of postgraduates considering student activities as a tool to help improve their financial discipline in accordance with the philosophy was at a high level also
(= 4.15, S.D. = 0.73). Moreover, by content analysis, it could be summed up that the university should focus more on the goal of improving student activities to promote students' financial discipline according to the philosophy and the strategy to achieve it by promoting and enlarging both student activities and subjects related to financial discipline. Furthermore, by the Focus Group Discussion among the 7 key informants, the conclusion was given that the policy of the university, the role of the university’s executives and personnel, in-class learning, and student activities are the key factor coherently leading to stable financial discipline. The strategic framework of student affairs considered by the organizational structure, campus location, organizational management based on Thailand Qualification Framework for Higher Education (TQF), and aspects of desired characteristics of Silpakorn University, is the important regulation for educational and support personnel to adapt the knowledge of the Sufficiency Economy philosophy to in-class learning and 5 categories of student activities which uplift student’s financial discipline.