Gender differences in financial knowledge calibration among German high school students

Financial education should not only increase knowledge but also help students assess what they know. This study examines gender differences in the calibration between objective financial knowledge and subjective self-assessment among 609 final-year German high school students. We estimate financial knowledge using item response theory, and measure overconfidence as the residual component of confidence after accounting for knowledge. Female students are, on average, more likely to be underconfident, whereas male students are more likely to be overconfident. The findings highlight calibration as an educationally relevant dimension of financial literacy.