Across generations, women have trailed men in financialknowledge — but the gap may beclosing, according to a multi-year study by the FINRA Investor EducationFoundation.

The study examines financial and investor literacy scores acrossgenerations of boomers, Gen Xers and millennials by looking at theaverage number of correct answers on a basic five-questionfinancial literacy quiz broken out by gender and generation atthree points in time — 2009,2012 and 2015.

Gap narrowed for millennials

In 2015, the gap in financial literacy between boomer men andwomen was 19%, and for Gen Xers 18%, according to the study. Butfor millennials, it was only 10%.

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The gender gap for boomers and Gen Xers did not change from 2009to 2015, but the gap for millennials narrowed, the study finds.

In 2009, the financial literacy score of millennial men was 0.60higher than the score for women. In 2012, the gap narrowed to 0.40,and in 2015, it dropped further to 0.26.

“It is encouraging that the gap in financial literacy andself-assessed financial knowledge appears to be narrowing formillennials — a trend that bodeswell for women in the future,” said FINRA Foundation PresidentGerri Walsh in a statement.

What could explain the gender gap in financial literacy and thenarrowing of the gap for millennials?

Access to financial education

According to Walsh, “while a number of factors might influencethese changes, access to financial education could be making adifference as men and women with higher financial literacy scoresreported participating in financial education in high school,college or the workplace.”

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The study finds that for every generation, men were more likelythan women to report having been offered financial education. Thiscould be due to the fact that men are more likely than women to beemployed full time, and financial education is often deliveredthrough the workplace, according to the study.

In addition, the study also finds that millennial women reportthat they were offered financial education significantly more oftenthan boomer women and Gen X women.

According to the study, 33% of millennial women state that theyhave been offered financial education compared to 23% for boomerwomen and 27% for Gen X women.

Similarly, millennial men were offered financial education moreoften than boomer men and Gen X men, suggesting that financialeducation is a relatively young field and that it may have becomemore available in recent years. The study finds that 43% of malemillennials report they have been offered financial educationcompared to 30 and 35% for male boomers and male Gen Xers,respectively.

Ability to make sound financial decisions

Financial literacy has been linked to wealth accumulation, stockmarket participation and retirement planning. Investor literacyinvolves knowledge of investment concepts.

“Lower levels of financial and investor literacy among women mayimpede their ability to accumulate wealth and make sound financialdecisions,” Walsh said in a statement. “These findings have thepower to help researchers and policymakers better understand howand why men and women make financial decisions.”

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The study uses data from the FINRA Foundation's NationalFinancial Capability Study, which surveyed more than 80,000American adults in 2009, 2012 and 2015 on four key components offinancial capability. The study also included a detailed analysisof 2,000 respondents surveyed in 2015 who hold investments innon-retirement accounts.

Researchers analyzed gender data across three generations ofrespondents — millennials, bornbetween 1980 and 1991; Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1979; andboomers, born between 1950 and 1964.

Emily Zulz is the staff reporter for our ALM Mediasister-site, ThinkAdvisor. She can be reached at [email protected].