Determining the Islamic financial literacy level: Example of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University

The ability of individuals, businesses and institutions and organizations that make financial transactions to make efficient choices among alternatives when making financial decisions is associated with their level of financial literacy. Financial literacy can be expressed as the ability to have knowledge about financial concepts and transactions and to use this knowledge effectively when making financial decisions. Islamic financial literacy means knowledge of Islamic financial products and services and awareness of Islamic rules when making financial transactions. Since individuals with interest sensitivity do not have sufficient knowledge about Islamic financial institutions and Islamic financial instruments, they evaluate their savings outside the financial systems. At this point, raising the awareness of Islamic financial products and services by determining the level of Islamic financial literacy of individuals will contribute to both reducing the effect of the interest problem and bringing savings into the economy. The aim of the study is to determine the Islamic financial literacy levels of academic and administrative staff working within Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University. The study will make significant contributions to the literature in terms of the small number of studies on Islamic financial literacy and the first study on academic and administrative staff on Islamic financial literacy. The questionnaire method was used to determine the Islamic financial literacy levels of academic and administrative staff of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. The universe of this study consists of total 2205 staff, including 1255 academic and 950 administrative staff working within Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University. The sample consisted of 363 personnel determined according to the quota sampling method. 151 of them are administrative and 212 are academic staff. According to the results of the analysis, there was a significant difference between the level of knowledge of financial instruments and gender and it was concluded that men were more knowledgeable about financial instruments than women. There were no significant differences between the level of Islamic financial literacy and the demographic factors of gender, marital status, age, educational status and income range. Finally, the level of Islamic financial literacy of the academic and administrative staff of Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University was determined to be quite low. Keywords: Financial Literacy, Islamic Finance, Islamic Financial Literacy, Islamic Banks, Participation Banks