The effects of ethnicity, gender and parental financial socialisation on financial knowledge among Gen Z: the case of Sarawak, Malaysia
International Journal of Social Economics
ISSN: 0306-8293
Article publication date: 19 April 2022
Issue publication date: 9 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial socialisation experiences, socio-economic factors, demographic characteristics and the financial knowledge of first year undergraduate students.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a questionnaire, data were collected from a sample of 450 first year university students from both private and public universities. A multivariate regression method was adopted to examine the influence of financial socialisation among respondents of different ethnic groups and their social backgrounds on the individual's financial knowledge.
Findings
The findings indicate that: firstly, financial knowledge is low among first-year university students in Sarawak. Secondly, male respondents outperform female counterparts in terms of financial knowledge. Thirdly, parental financial socialisation remains the main source of financial knowledge among the students. Fourthly, there are significant differences in financial knowledge across ethnic groups.
Research limitations/implications
It is paramount to implement financial education programmes to elevate the financial literacy for both youth and parents since parents remain the primary source of financial socialisation for young adults.
Practical implications
The study suggests that financial knowledge varies according to gender and ethnicity. Hence, financial education programmes should be designed to accommodate the differences between groups based on ethnicity and gender to achieve the best outcome.
Originality/value
This is the first study that draws a representative sample of university students in Sarawak that examines the effects of ethnicity, gender and parental financial socialisation on financial knowledge among first year university students.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Weng Marc Lim for his useful comments.
Funding: The study was funded by Swinburne Sarawak Research Grant (SSRG) 2018.
Ethics approval: The protocol of the study was approved by the ethics and committee of the corresponding author's institution. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Citation
Wee, L.L.M. and Goy, S.C. (2022), "The effects of ethnicity, gender and parental financial socialisation on financial knowledge among Gen Z: the case of Sarawak, Malaysia", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 49 No. 9, pp. 1349-1367. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-02-2021-0114
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited