Pharmacy students' level of financial literacy and its differences among students with various career intentions

Background: Many pharmacy students will work at managerial positions after graduation, so policymakers' awareness from their level of financial literacy and intentions regarding their future career field and path might be helpful to identify existing gaps and needed interventions. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of financial literacy among pharmacy students and their intentions regarding career path and field.

Methods: Data were gathered in early 2018 using a questionnaire which consisted of three parts: questions on financial literacy, career intentions, and participants' characteristics. Data analysis included descriptive analysis, comparison of the level of financial literacy and career intention among different demographic groups, as well as the comparison of the level of financial literacy among students preferring various career fields and paths.

Results: A total of 173 usable questionnaires were gathered. Significant differences were observed in terms of the level of financial literacy between various groups of students' personal income, term of education, and history of receiving finance-related information from people around them. Students showed more weakness in responding to questions related to investment. It was also revealed that students with higher scores in financial literacy gave priority to fast entrance to the job market compared to other suggested career paths.

Conclusions: Although improvement in all aspects of financial literacy seem required for the studied population, more weakness was observed in terms of investment questions. Community pharmacy and rapid entrance to the work market were the preferred career field and path, respectively.