Youth exposure to financial literacy information has become common in today's digital age, providing students with early financial management skills for a lifetime of well-being. However, easy access to technology and information doesn't always translate into financial literacy skills for today's students. This study aims to comprehensively understand financial literacy among undergraduates at Universiti Sains Malaysia, describing gender and ethnic group differences. It applied the theory of embeddedness to explain financial literacy variations across family backgrounds, friend networks, gender, and ethnicity. A single-stage non-probability sampling method was used. Employing purposive and quota sampling, ten informants from diverse backgrounds were interviewed. Grounded theory with open coding, axial coding, and selective coding was employed for data analysis. The findings show that undergraduate financial literacy is primarily shaped by family and social networks, where young individuals continuously develop and enhance their financial knowledge. The findings implied that educators and policymakers can customize strategies for young individuals, aligning financial literacy promotion with real-life experiences of young people which can contribute to long-term solutions for reducing youth bankruptcy.Keywords: Financial literacy; embeddedness; undergraduates; family background; friend networksReferencesAlekam, J. M. E., Salleh, M. S. B. Md., & Mokhtar. Sany Sanuri bin Mohd. (2018). The effect of family, peer, behavior, saving and spending behavior on financial literacy among young generations. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 7, 309–323.Ansar, R., Karim, M. R. A., Osman, Z., & Fahmi, M. S. (2019a). 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Author Biographies
LEE CHOCK Wei Quan, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Lee Chock Wei Quan completed his First Degree (2023) in Anthropology and Sociology at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is a First Class student, a holder of several Dean Lists. He was shortlisted for USM Prime Gold Medal Award and is currently waiting for the cofirmation of the reward.
CHIN Yee Whah, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Chin Yee Whah earned his Ph.D. from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2002. Dr. Chin is a Professor of Economic Sociology at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. He received international grants from SEASREP, Toyota Foundation (1998), and CRISE, University of Oxford (2006). He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore (2007), Affiliate Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Amsterdam (2007), Research Fellow at the Asia Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School (2010), and recipient of Taiwan Fellowship (2019). He is an Adjunct Professor at New Era University College. He is currently a Council Member of the Academy of Professors Malaysia, and an editorial board member for Southeast Asian Social Science Review, Kajian Malaysia, and Malaysian Journal of Chinese Studies.
