Financial competencies among Ecuadorian university students: problem-based learning, artificial intelligence, and socio-educational inequalities

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between problem-based learning, artificial intelligence, and financial competencies among Ecuadorian university students, considering the mediating role of motivation and self-efficacy and the influence of socio-educational conditions associated with technological access and type of institution. The study adopts a quantitative, cross-sectional, and explanatory design based on structural equation modeling. The analysis draws on a sample of 350 students enrolled in administrative and economic programs at public and private universities in Ecuador. The results show that problem-based learning has a positive and significant effect on the development of financial competencies, both directly and indirectly through motivation and self-efficacy. They also indicate that artificial intelligence strengthens these effects when used as a pedagogical support mechanism, although its contribution is conditioned by unequal socio-educational contexts, especially differences in technological access. The article concludes that financial literacy in higher education should be understood as a capacity shaped by pedagogical, technological, and structural mediations rather than as a purely technical or curricular outcome.