Financial self-efficacy, financial literacy, and gender: A review

Recognizing that gender differences in financial literacy and financial self-efficacy (FSE) are sources of power imbalance and gender inequality, we seek to expand this field of research. Through, a semi-systematic review, we describe and synthesize the latest research regarding the role of self-efficacy in relation to financial literacy and gender. We give an overview of how FSE is conceptualized and measured, and identify strengths and limitations regarding approaches used in investigating FSE. We identify several issues that should be addressed in future research. First, there are conceptual ambiguities to be solved before a coherent theoretical basis can be reached. Second, the variety of measures of FSE used obstructs generalizability, calling for more validation studies. Third, there is a lack of studies obtaining causal inferences. Finally, few of the reviewed studies focus specifically on gender differences or sources of variation in FSE. These issues should be further investigated.