An Investigation of Difference between the Study Habits between Sexes - Essay Example

? An Investigation of Difference between the Study Habits between Sexes Introduction Gender is a social construct that refers to the way men and women are portrayed in society and play role in influencing the academic performance of individuals at different levels. Both men and women have to face certain pressures in their lives (Frater, 2000). On an academic level, girls in many countries encounter inequality in terms of facing restrictions whereas boys have to bear a lot of pressure to become the breadwinner and protector. Boys are expected to become a useful component of the labor market and their educational career is often directed towards being a productive part of the workforce. This difference in the treatment of boys and girls also tend to have very strong impact upon the study habits between different sexes. Gender determines the types and intensity of problems and challenges that boys and girls have to face during their educational life (Burke, 2009). Although there are other factors like the economic system, the ratio of girls to boys and accessibility of education which affects the performance of boys and girls at educational centers, gender difference is also an important factor that plays a major role in creating the difference in literacy performance level and achievements of boys (Wray et al, 2002). There are several important factors behind this difference in the study habits between the sexes. explored by the experts. Warrington and Bricheno (2005) discussed some of the possible reasons for this difference. They identified that boys’ and girls’ brains are different and that hormones such as testosterone affect the natural development of their brains. Testosterone levels in boys’ bloodstream slows the growth of brain cells, whereas oestrogen, the hormone in the bloodstream of girls, stimulates faster growth of brain cells (Biddulph, 2008). This results in boys’ brains developing slower than girls’ brains because the left and right sides of the brain are less well connected; language and reasoning is stored in one half of the brain and the other half is linked to emotions, space and position. Another factor cited for difference in the study habits of male and females is the lack of males in the education system and that the way in which teaching is delivered is female biased. According to Worthy (2002) the trend of declining study habits in boys is due to the gender gap differences in schools in terms of there being not enough male role models in teaching, specifically in primary schools. The education system that children are going through today has too many female practitioners. In many countries, such as Germany, Japan and United States, academic experts have realized the role of gender in determining children’s academic achievements and the identification of boys under achieving have evolved as critical area of debate and concern among educational experts as the public (Gorard et al, 1999, p187). However, in many countries where girls did not have equal access to education as boys, their performance and achievements remained at low level but if given equal opportunities, girls showed better literary achievements compared with boys. The research paper aims to investigate the difference in the study habits between different sexes. In this regard, the theoretical foundation has been explained above to illustrate the potential effect of sex upon the study habits. The primary research has also been conducting to affirm the theoretical framework. There are 100 students, 50 male and 50 females selected and interviewed from different educational institutions of the country and in the light of their responses, the research paper tests the research hypothesis and strives to provide logical ending to the entire effort. Method The topic under study has been explored in detailed with the help of interview that is an important source of collecting qualitative information related with the topic of the research studies. Interviews of 100 students have been conducted using the method of random sampling. There are 50 male and 50 female students selected from different academic institutions. They have been approached using different methods like face to face, email and telephone to request their participation in the study. After getting consent, the interview questions were delivered to them and time of one week was decided to collect the responses of the interviews. After the decided time period of one week, all the collected responses were put together and it was found that 70 people have provided the complete answers of the interview questions. Among these 70 people, 32 collected responses were from the male students whereas 38 female responses were received from the female students. All the responses were put together to conduct the analysis in the light of the research question. Results The interview results clarify that there is considerable difference in the study habits of male and female students. Most of the girls are found more dedicated towards their studies and they usually give more time to their studies as compared with the boys. On the other hand, most of the boys reported that they also try to give adequate time to their studies but usually they got engaged in outdoor or other fun activities due to which their focus from the studies in diverted and in the end they manage to give less time to the studies. The responses collected from the interviews also clarify that the girls mostly have a time table to follow for their studies whereas the boys are found less attentive towards time management through clock. The girls make use of their study time by making certain categories but the boys usually tend to give less importance towards this style and will prefer to decide on time about their schedule of learning. They remain involved in certain other activities during and after the studies hour are also examined in the research and it is proved that the girls not only take active role in the studies but their performance is also improved than the boys. Discussion The research study is a based upon the motive of finding out the difference in the study habots between the sexes. The research objective has been attained with the help of i9nterviews of 100 students selected from across the country. It is found from the study that there are some obvious differences in the study habits of male and female students. It implies that gender plays an important role in making difference in the study habits between the sexes. There is not only difference in the time allocation for studies but the study patterns and style also significantly differs between the girls and the boys. It is an important aspect of the issue that there should be some efforts made to reduce this difference and the society has to support and motivate boys towards following proper study time table and habit like the girls so that ultimately their academic performances and achievements could also be improved as compared with that of the boys. The literature focusing upon the under achievement of boys affirms that there are clear differences in the study habits of the boys and girls. There are different factors identified by the theorist that have played role in creating these differences. The study of the gender based differences in the study habits unveils that most of the factors identified by the experts are present within the UK education system like dominating role of female teachers, lack of specific attention towards boys etc, (Francis, 2008, p187) due to which the country has been witnessing difference in the study habits of boys and girls. In long run the difference in the study habits also affect the career progression and academic achievements of boys and girls. Due to this fact that becomes the responsibility of the people that they should play positive role in minimizing the difference in the study habits of male and females so that both of these gender groups could use their complete potential. ultimately, the entire society would be benefited from this development because it will allow the males and females to gain confidence and attain better at academic levels. The society must not make any difference among boys and girls and there is also need that the experts must work to eliminate this impression among the masses that boys could not achieve higher than girls at academic level. This impression and perception among the people must be discourages because when people think this way, their attitude towards the students is also changes and in the end the boys have to face certain type of discriminating attitudes from different people around them. It is also very important that the members of the civil society should also realize that the boys must not be pressurized to become successful in their educational careers that they start feeling burdened. The performance of the boys is also found to be affected from the social pressure that they people use to exercise upon them by putting high levels of expectations from them and demonstrating that they have to earn money for the family soon. Reference Burke, P. (2009), Men accessing education: gendered aspirations, British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 719-733 Frater, Graham (2000) Securing Boys’ Literacy: a survey of effective practice in primary schools, London, Basic Skills Agency Gorard, S, J Salisbury and G Rees (1999). “Revisiting the apparent underachievement of boys: reflections on the implications for educational research”. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Sussex at Brighton, 2-5 September. Wray, D., Medwell, J., Poulson, L., Fox, R., (2002) Teaching Literacy Effectively in the Primary School, London: Routledge Warrington, M. Younger, M. and Mclellan, R. (2003), Underachieving boys in English Primary Schools, The curriculum Journal vol.14 no. 2 pp.139-156 Worthy, J. (2002). What makes intermediate-grade students want to read? The Reading Teacher, vol.55 no.6, 568–569 Read More