Student financial literacy gap closed
Australia has closed the gender gap in teenage financial literacy, which identified girls outperforming boys, according to a report released by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
ACER’s report analysed the student achievement and questionnaire responses in the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Financial Literacy survey.
Conducted every three years since 2012, it measured 15-year-olds’ personal financial knowledge, and ACER’s report covered the 2018 survey results released by the OECD in May.
Dr Sue Thomson, ACER deputy chief executive (research), said while there were no gender differences in financial literacy achievement, there were gender differences in their financial experiences and attitudes.
More boys reported they enjoyed talking about money matters, while more girls believed money matters were not currently personally relevant.
“While Australian girls outperformed boys in the 2018 PISA reading literacy assessment, and boys outperformed girls in mathematical literacy, it is encouraging to see that there is no gender gap in the financial literacy of Australia’s 15-year-olds,” Thomson said.
Australian students had the fourth-highest exposure to financial education in school, behind Indonesia, Finland and Russia.
Australia also had the highest percentage of students using a mobile app to access their money, at 55%.
Australia’s participation in the PISA 2018 Financial Literacy survey was managed by ACER and conducted with funding from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
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