'You have to find a location where you will sell, where you think you will sell most' – Exploring the numeracy skills of female microcredit clients in Nicaragua

Sonja Beeli-Zimmermann

doi:10.5130/lns.v19i1.2417

Abstract

Using Lindenskov and Wedege's (2001) working model for numeracy, semi-standardised interviews with self-employed women in Nicaragua were analysed. The analysis illustrates that the women’s numeracy skills are not limited to counting and calculation skills when dealing with financial matters. The interviewees display a broad understanding of patterns and relations, and there are indications of an awareness of data and chance. While the medium of money plays an important role, the women also refer to specific products, time or people when displaying their numeracy skills. If the livelihoods of these women are to be improved and international development goals and educational commitments are to be reached and fulfilled, it is suggested that these skills that the women already possess should be investigated more systematically in order to better understand the transfer of knowledge between different contexts.

Highlights

Context is a fundamental and frequently discussed term in debates about numeracy
It has been found that a person's numeracy skills depend on where they have to be displayed and the transfer of skills between different contexts, between educational and work settings, is a much debated issue
As situational context includes wider aspects such as historical and social relations, the fact that this article – unlike many others dealing with numeracy – is not based on information gathered 'in the western hemisphere and developed nations of the world' (Naresh 2008:9) needs to be mentioned

Summary

Introduction

Context is a fundamental and frequently discussed term in debates about numeracy. Context and skills constitute two core aspects of numeracy development. The subcodes in this category include the following: dealing with and sense of (a) quantity and numbers, (b) dimension and form, (c) patterns and relations (d), data and chance, (e) change, and (f) models (Lindenskov and Wedege 2001).

Results

Conclusion