An Analysis of the Relationship between Demographic Characteristics and Financial Practices among Tertiary Students in Botswana

Abstract

This study examines the financial practices of 823 students from three tertiary institutions in Botswana with regard to seven demographic characteristics of gender, age, class, work experience, boarding status, parenthood and marital status. This study asked students to indicate how regularly they engage in 18 specific financial management behaviours using a 6 point Likert scale.  Statistically significant higher means were registered among students aged above 25, those with more than one year work experience, those with children and those who are married, with regard to issues of risk management. The results further suggest that males were more involved than females in the issues of investment planning and implementation. Furthermore, students living off-campus portrayed higher engagement in budgeting, risk management and understanding lease agreements than those living on-campus. On the overall, the students in all demographic groups demonstrated a rare involvement in the financial practices studied. This has implication to the society they come from and the schools they attend. These institutions should find ways and means of improving financial practices.  Therefore the programmes that aim at stimulating good financial behaviour should be encouraged both at home and schools.

Keywords: financial practices, tertiary students, demographics, descriptive study, Botswana