Skip to main content
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact

Search form

American Institutes for Research

  • Our Work
    • Education
    • Health
    • International
    • Workforce
    • ALL TOPICS >
  • Our Services
    • Research and Evaluation
    • Technical Assistance
  • Our Experts
  • News & Events

You are here

  • Home
28 Feb 2020
Report

A Comparative Profile of 15-Year-Old Students Who Expect to Work in Finance

An Analysis Using PISA 2015 Financial Literacy Data

Students’ career expectations have been found to be highly predictive of students’ actual career choices and outcomes later in life. Moreover, the literature shows that students’ career expectations to some extent are based on the resources available to them, as socioeconomic background, including parental occupation, is associated with career expectations. Other factors such as gender are also found to be associated with students’ career expectations.

The financial sector’s significance in the global economy is unquestionable. An increase in financial literacy skills can improve financial decision making and positively impact individuals and households. With the increasing significance of the financial sector and the recognition of financial literacy as an essential life skill, it is important to compare—in a global context—students’ career expectations in finance and explore their association with students’ financial literacy.

This study, consisting of a Stats-at-a-Glance, a research brief, and a research note, compares 15-year-old students who reported career expectations in finance in 13 education systems that participated in the financial literacy assessment of the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). It explores selected demographic characteristics of students expecting careers in finance, and the association between students’ finance career expectations and their financial literacy performance.

Key Findings

The findings provide a cross-national picture of students’ finance career expectations. The analysis found that:

  • Across the 13 participating education systems, 3 percent of 15-year-old students expected to work in finance as adults. The percentage seems low given that 13 percent of the 15-year-old students had at least one parent working in finance.
  • In some education systems, the analysis also found differences by gender or socioeconomic status in the percentage of students who expected to work in finance.
  • Students’ career expectations in finance did not correlate with their financial literacy performance in any education system after controls were added for parental occupation, gender, socioeconomic status, and performance in mathematics and reading. Thus, students’ career expectations are not a strong predictor of their financial literacy performance when accounting for these background characteristics.

Infographic: Stats-at-a-Glance: Comparing Financial Literacy of 15-Year-Old Students Who Expect to Work in Finance

Research Note: A Comparative Profile of 15-Year-Old Students Who Expect to Work in Finance (PDF)
Research Brief: Comparing 15-Year-Old Students Who Expect to Work in Finance (PDF)
Stats-at-a-Glance: Comparing Financial Literacy of 15-Year-Old Students Who Expect to Work in Finance (PDF)

Related Projects

Project

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that focuses on 15-year-olds' capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy and science literacy.

Further Reading

  • Money Matters: Financial Literacy of U.S. Teenagers
  • AIR Experts to Present at the Comparative and International Education Society 62nd Annual Conference
  • Why Financial Literacy is Important to College-Bound Teens
  • Highlights from PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context
  • AIR Researchers to Discuss a Range of Education Issues at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Annual Conference
Share

Contact

Image of Yugi Liao

Yuqi Liao

Research Associate

Topic

Education
International Comparisons in Education

RESEARCH. EVALUATION. APPLICATION. IMPACT.

About Us

About AIR
Board of Directors
Leadership
Experts
Clients
Contracting with AIR
Contact Us

Our Work

Education
Health
International
Workforce

Client Services

Research and Evaluation
Technical Assistance

News & Events

Careers at AIR


Search form


 

Connecting

FacebookTwitterLinkedinYouTubeInstagram

American Institutes for Research

1400 Crystal Drive, 10th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202-3289
Call: (202) 403-5000
Fax: (202) 403-5000

Copyright © 2020 American Institutes for Research®.  All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap