Personality Types of Actuaries

1. Personality Types of Actuaries Associate Professor Leonie Tickle Macquarie University, Sydney

2. The Actuarial Stereotype • Marketing audit of the Australian actuarial profession: • Perception: “technical”, “conservative”, “specialist” and “respected” • Actual: “technical”, “respected”, “specialist”, “challenging” • Ideal: “respected”, “creative”, “ethical” and “influential”. (Gale et al. 1995)

3. Overview • Why study personality types of actuaries and accountants? • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator • Personality types of accountants and accounting students • Personality types of actuaries • Personality types of actuarial students • Implications

4. Why Study Personality Types of Actuaries? • Students and careers advisers: Career decisions • Academics: Students’ learning styles; curriculum that encourages diversity • Employers: Fully utilising talents of staff • Actuarial Profession: Health and vibrancy of the profession • All individuals: Personal development; working with others

5. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

6. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

7. MBTI - Energy orientation

8. MBTI – Information perception

9. MBTI – Decision-making

10. MBTI – Dealing with the outer world

11. MBTI - Type Table Type names are from Keirsey (1998)

12. MBTI - Type Table

13. MBTI - Type Table

14. MBTI - Type Table

15. MBTI - Type Table

16.  = Population (Myers, I.B. et al, 1998). Each represents 1%.

17. Personality Types of Accountants and Accounting Students

18.  = Population (Myers, I.B. et al, 1998) = Accountants (Satava, 1996)

19.  = Population (Myers, I.B. et al, 1998) = Accountants (Satava, 1996)

20.  = Population (Myers, I.B. et al, 1998) = Accountants (Satava, 1996)

21. Personality types of accountants • I S T J • Inspector • (18% - 27% of accountants, 12% of population) • Practical, matter-of-fact and realistic • Logical, analytical, objective • Dependable, dutiful, trustworthy, loyal • Value tradition and accepted methods • May overlook the big picture and new possibilities • May not consider the impact of decisions on people

22. Personality types of accountants • E S T J • Supervisor • (14% - 19% of accountants, 9% of population) • Practical, matter-of-fact and realistic • Decisive, assertive in implementing plans, confident • Organised, efficient, dependable • Logical, systematic, pragmatic • May overlook wider ramifications of actions • May not consider the impact of decisions on people

23. Personality types of accountants • Lack of diversity? 35–46% -STJ (21% in pop) • Filtering out of E-, N-, F-, P-(Laribee, 1994) • Type and role: Managers and senior partners more often N- than S-(Schloemer et al, 1997) • “Perhaps we are not attracting and retaining what the accounting profession needs, or not giving students the opportunity to develop the skills required… We need a better mix of personality NOW.”(Briggs et al, 2007)

24. Personality Types of Actuaries

25.  = Population  = Accountants (Satava, 1996) = Actuaries (Patrick, 1996)

26.  = Population  = Accountants (Satava, 1996) = Actuaries (Patrick, 1996)

27. Personality types of actuaries • I S T J • Inspector • (23% of actuaries, 18-27% of accountants, 12% of population) • Practical, matter-of-fact and realistic • Logical, analytical, objective • Dependable, dutiful, trustworthy, loyal • Value tradition and accepted methods • May overlook the big picture and new possibilities • May not consider the impact of decisions on people

28. Personality types of actuaries • I N T J • Mastermind • (16% of actuaries, 2% of population) • Global, creative, conceptual, long-range thinkers • Concise, rational, objective, critical • Value innovation over authority or accepted methods • May overlook practical details, engage in abstractions • May not see impact of decisions on people, give praise

29. Personality types of actuaries • I N T P • Architect • (12% of actuaries, 3% of population) • Curious, insightful, ingenious • Logical, analytical, objective, critical, skeptical • Flexible, dislike routine problems • May be impractical • May not consider the impact of ideas on people

30. Is the actuarial stereotype justified? • More Introverts (70%: accountants 50%, pop 50%) • More Thinkers (80%: accountants 70%, pop 40%) • More Intuitives (50%: accountants 30%, pop 30%) • Stereotype of meticulous, detail-oriented not supported • More diverse than accountants?: ISTJ (23%), INTJ (16%), INTP (12%), ESTJ (9%)

31. Personality Types of Actuarial Students

32. Study of actuarial students (Tickle, 2009) • 109 first year Macquarie University actuarial students (60% response rate) • Sex: Male (57%), Female (43%) • Country of birth: Australia (27%), China (31%), Hong Kong (3%), Malaysia (15%), Korea (7%), India (5%), Pakistan (3%), Vietnam (3%) - also Taiwan, Kenya, Singapore, Egypt, Russia, Sri Lanka. • English is first language for only 24%. • English is spoken at home for only 32%. • Age of decision to study actuarial studies: <15 (2%), 15-17 (8%), 17-18 (45%), 18-21 (27%), 22-23 (10%), 24+ (8%).

33.  = Population = Actuaries (Patrick, 1996)  = Actuarial students (Tickle, 2009)

34.  = Population = Actuaries (Patrick, 1996)  = Actuarial students (Tickle, 2009)

35. Recap of MBTI Profiles References: Myers, I.B. et al (1998); Kovar et al (2003); Patrick (1996); Tickle (2009).

36. Factors in choosing actuarial program

37. Alignment between personality and … • Significant shift between alignment now and in career • ENTP and ESTJ reported closest alignment • INFP, INFJ and ISFP (and F types in general) reported the least alignment (but reasonably high satisfaction)

38. Satisfaction with degree • Choice to major in Actuarial Studies: • 40% very satisfied • 41% somewhat satisfied • 14% neutral • 5% somewhat dissatisfied • Satisfaction rated higher than alignment • ENTJ and ENTP most satisfied • ENFJ and ESFP (and F types in general) least satisfied

39. Discontinuance Choice of major 72% would choose Actuarial Studies again Low for ENFJ, ESFJ, ENFP, ESFP (F types in general) Discontinuance 3% have seriously considered discontinuing, and a further 26% have considered it but not seriously. Types most often reporting considering discontinuance are ESFP, ESFJ, ENFP, INFP (F types in general) Main reasons cited – workload and difficulty

40. Career Plans Intend to complete Part III Yes 79% No 18% Not sure 3% Role Using actuarial skills in a traditional actuarial role 42% Using actuarial skills in a non-traditional actuarial role 50% Not using actuarial skills but in the financial sector 6% Not using actuarial skills and not in the financial sector 2% INTP, ENTJ, INFJ, INFP more inclined toward non-traditional roles

41. Career Plans - continued Intended practice area Investments 23% Banking and finance 20% Life insurance 15% Risk management 7% Superannuation 3% GI / health 3% Not sure 27% E and N types most inclined towards investments and banking

42. Summary of study Personality profile of actuarial students similar to the general population. Job prospects and pay are important factors in choosing actuarial studies. Limited evidence that F-types are less satisfied, feel less alignment and are more likely to discontinue. Limited evidence that INTP, ENTJ, INFJ, INFP types are more inclined toward non-traditional roles, and E and N types toward investment and banking.

43. Implications

44. Implications: Careers Advice • Are students choosing the degree because of pay and job prospects rather than alignment with interests? • Interest in maths is important for students and probably also emphasised by careers advisers – need to also promote problem-solving skills and business judgement. • Importance of communication skills needs emphasis. • Positive IAAust developments (e.g. More than Maths). • Differences between actuarial studies and accounting.

45. Implications: Learning and Teaching NT students: are analytical, logical, critical; like to work independently; like challenge; enjoy being creative; are concerned with relevance and meaning. ST students: want concrete, specific information; learn from actual experience; like a structured environment; want immediate feedback and lose interest if not practical. SF students: process information based on personal experience; respond to collegiality, trust and encouragement; learn best by talking and group activity. NF students: look for possibilities and patterns, uniqueness, originality, personal relevance; like a flexible and innovative environment; bored by routine. Silver and Hanson (1996)

46. Implications: Learning and Teaching It wasn't what I expected… I’m used to having someone in every subject or in anything I do and I love company, I hate being by myself. I find it very hard to motivate myself to do the work as it is very challenging and I have no one to make it more enjoyable. [However, the] subjects are thought-provoking and testing, which keeps me interested and appeals to my curious and determined nature. (ESFP)

47. Implications: Learning and Teaching [Actuarial studies] is so interesting and sparks my passion and curiosity. However, I dislike it as I struggle to make friends with people in the course … I would definitely be loving university life if I had one or two people to come along for the ride. However, the high expectations I have in myself … and being able to provide for my future family, is too strong of a drive for me to give up. (ESFP)

48. Implications: Learning and Teaching Appears boring, with a concentration on known facts rather than theories. (INTP) In 5-10 years time, I hope to be a well respected professional actuary, and admired for my abilities and talents, as well as my ability to think outside the square. (ENTP)

49. Implications: Actuarial Profession What is the “ideal” personality profile for actuaries? Is diversity a good thing? Could we be attracting a diverse range of people into the profession but failing to retain them?

50. Acknowledgements QED NZ Society of Actuaries Consulting Psychologists Press Macquarie University Department of Actuarial Studies Maree Moses, Sharon Collett and Alison Petto-Hamilton