More than Socio- and Geo-demographics: How Complementary Education and Business Experience Shape Students’ Financial Behaviour in Europe
More than Socio- and Geo-demographics: How Complementary Education and Business Experience Shape Students’ Financial Behaviour in Europe

Summary/Abstract: Although financial literacy would seem relevant to university students’ education, it is notcurrently offered as a transversal subject within European academic curricula. It shouldtherefore come as no surprise that a common solution are ad-hoc specific courses, withstudents often additionally acquiring valuable learning through their own experiencesin business environments. With this and the recent literature on the drivers of financialliteracy in mind, the authors decided to explore the context shaped by socio-demographic,academic and work-related factors that either promote or prevent European universitystudents from developing appropriate financial skills, such as managing personal finances,planning for short- and long-term needs, and distinguishing among different sourcesof non-traditional funding. The study used a sample of 881 undergraduate and postgradu-ate university students from Romania, Poland and Spain from different studies, with infor-mation obtained through an anonymous online survey. The applied econometric model wascumulative regression with location-scale estimation using the R software, version 4.3.2,with variables associated directly with the development of basic financial skills being age,gender, country, but also specific training as well as work and entrepreneurial experience.The authors stress the importance of providing financial management education connectedto the reality, especially the business and entrepreneurial environment.

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