Gender Differences in Writing among Islamic University of Gaza Students

Abstract

This study explores gender differences in the writing of Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) students who were requested to write on similar themes and under controlled settings. Few previous studies have been designed to examine gender differences in writing through analyzing texts produced in uncontrolled conditions. The current research settings were almost controlled to lower the possibility that other factors rather than gender may affect the results. The researcher applied a two-part questionnaire on 33 students (42% male, 58% female) whose ages range from 19 to 26. The questionnaire was intentionally designed to measure which gender has the higher tendency to write in response to different occasions and what are the major gender differences in writing. A mixed method was implemented to conduct this study. Thus, the study can be considered descriptive considering the process of text analysis and evaluation, but quantitative with reference to highlighting and collecting the characteristics of participants writing. The findings showed some grammatical, syntactical, and lexical differences in students’ writing that can be traced back to gender. It also revealed that male students have higher tendency to write more frequently than female in response to different occasions and feelings.