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Providing equal opportunities in class as well as at home does not ensure equal promotion of leisure reading among girls and boys. Gender differences have wider impacts on their reading development. The purpose of this paper is to find out gender differences in leisure reading habits among children.

The search process was conducted during Aug.–Sept. 2019 using Scopus database. A total of 41 studies were selected for the review. The systematic review used Cochrane Methodologies reported as per preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines for identification, evaluation and selection of studies. The studies that dealt with leisure reading, reported gender difference of reading, had age group of 4–18-year children, were in English language and were accessible to the researchers were selected for review.

The results were presented in terms of identified reading factors including reading frequency, reading choice, reading time, reading media, reading influence, reading value and library use. The girls were more frequent readers than boys. The girls were in favor of fiction, while boys were interested in reading nonfiction. Girls preferred online materials but boys were in favor of printed materials. The boys were influenced by their fathers and peer groups’ reading, while girls were influenced by their mothers’ reading habits.

The study provided better understanding of boys’ and girls’ reading differences and required the librarians, teachers and academic policymakers to deal with them accordingly.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first kind of systematic review reporting difference of reading on the basis of gender and inferred reading factors. It will be helpful for librarians, teachers and academic policymakers to consider these differences while dealing with boys’ and girls’ reading choices and interests.

Results from international large-scale assessments, such as PISA surveys, suggest that boys do better in math and science, whereas girls do better in reading. How do gender gaps vary across subjects, when estimated simultaneously? Building on the work of Tsai, Smith, and Hauser (2017), we answer this question by applying a multilevel-MIMIC model that enables us to estimate gender gaps in two ways: gender differences in the effects of observed family and school factors on math, science, and reading scores; and the “adjusted” gender gaps in test scores across all three subjects after controlling for observables. We apply the model to 2012 PISA data of students aged 15–16 and enrolled in 9th or 10th grade in three East Asian (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) and three Western countries (USA, Germany, and the Czech Republic) that represent both similar and different types of school systems. Our findings indicate that the gender gap in math or science achievement in Western countries, favoring boys, does not necessarily apply to the East Asian countries examined here, while all three East Asian countries exhibit similar features of gender reading gaps in the 10th grade. There is evidence indicating that observed background and school factors impact boys’ and girls’ achievement in a similar way in USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic, but not in Germany. Overall, gender differences in family and school influences do not account for gender differences in academic achievement in any of the six countries.

This chapter explores queer theory as a “thought of a method” in educational ethnography by sharing stories of two third grade boys and situating them in a discussion of Britzman’s ideas about reading and Butler’s notion of fantasy. The stories are presented as a possible queer educational ethnography, in which the ethnographer writes the fantastic narrative of the boys as they read creatively to reveal and unsettle gender and reading as sites of constraint to which other constraints adhere. The boys’ reading itself is a queer reading of these constraints and as such makes alterity visible and possible. The study and the methodological framework suggest that educational ethnographers and other adults who work in schools should become attuned to the markers of constraint and alterity, so as to recognize, shelter, and maintain the alterity that children make possible. The chapter asserts children must be allowed to read for alterity, and shows how fantastic narratives that emerge from such readings are limited by the hushing of individuals who disallow alterity in classrooms. Ultimately, this chapter is relevant to ethnographers of education in that it suggests that queer theory not only is necessary to narrate and thus shelter the ways that gender can and should be unsettled in classrooms, but also allows us to narrate and shelter other queer urgencies related to fear, violence, and vulnerability that children experience or share in classrooms. Implications for the current climate of school reform based on standardization of curriculum are also discussed.

The purpose of this study is to understand the role and impact of gender on reading habits. It is an attempt to explore the probable reason why or why not gender differences take place concerning reading time, reading purpose, reading resources and digital devices among undergraduate students in the digital environment.

For this study, the researcher used a survey-based approach. To accomplish the study’s goals, a meticulously designed questionnaire has been disseminated among undergraduate students in selected colleges located in the western district of Tripura, a northeastern state in India.

The study found that female respondents have a slightly higher level of liking for reading than males. For both genders, the major purpose of reading is to enhance their knowledge unvaryingly. Furthermore, it has been observed that female respondents read electronic and print reading material more frequently compared to their male counterparts. Female respondents read fiction more frequently than males in print form. Both genders have more ease in reading print resources than digital resources. Among all digital devices, respondents are most competent at using mobile devices and prefer them for digital reading.

As part of the pilot study, investigators surveyed a limited sample population, where the participation of students was further lower because of the unavailability of students.

The gender-based level of competency with digital devices is studied as a variable among the adult population to measure its correlation with reading habits.

The purpose of this study is to explore gender differences in the online reading environment.

Survey and analysis methods are employed.

Survey results reveal that female readers have a stronger preference for paper as a reading medium than male readers, whereas male readers exhibit a greater degree of satisfaction with online reading than females. Additionally, males and females differ significantly on the dimension of selective reading and sustained attention.

Understanding gender differences would enable a better understanding of the changing reading behavior in the online environment, and to develop more effective digital reading devices. Factors affecting gender differences in the online reading environment are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

This paper aims to investigate the individual difference on digital reading, by examining the eye-tracking records of male and female readers with different reading ability (including their pupil size, blink rate, fixation rate, fixation duration, saccade rate, saccade duration, saccade amplitude and regression rate).

A total of 74 participants were selected according to 6,520 undergraduate students’ university entrance exam scores and the follow-up reading assessments. Half of them are men and half are women, with the top 3% good readers and the bottom 3% poor readers, from different disciplines.

Results indicated that the major gender differences on reading abilities were indicated by saccade duration, regression rate and blink rate. The major effects on reading ability have a larger effect size than the major effect on gender. Among all the indicators that have been examined, blink rate and regression rates are the most sensitive to the gender attribute, while the fixation rate and saccade amplitude showed the least sensitiveness.

This finding could be helpful for user modeling with eye-tracking data in intelligent tutoring systems, where necessary adjustments might be needed according to users’ individual differences. In this way, instructors could be able to provide purposeful guidance according to what the learners had seen and personalized the experience of digital reading.

This study aims to attempt to understand the reading habits and attitudes of the Bachelor of IT students and the Bachelor of Arts students from the International Islamic University Malaysia. The study also aims to explore these differences in terms of gender.

The study used a survey approach in collecting the data. The population of the study was the undergraduate students from two academic faculties at the university. The faculties were Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology (KICT) (IT‐based) and Kuliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science (KIRKH) (arts‐based). Based on the 400 sample drawn, 127 responses were received from the survey.

The study finds that the web site is seen as an increasingly important reading source. Significant differences exist between academic programs and types of reading materials and reading resources particularly use the web sites. Some differences in reading habits and attitudes were also observed between male and female participants.

Limitations in this study are related to the small sample size, the inclusion of only two academic faculties, and the limited amount of variables studied.

In general, the findings of the study should assist the University authority, especially the library and the computing department, to look into service matters pertaining to accommodating the reading as well as the studying habits of the student.

The pattern of reading, as is known from the past, may not be the same as reading as it is known today or in the future. Research in reading habits needs to be further updated by including current advancement in ICT, where the technology has enabled reading to be more timely and somewhat non‐linear by using devices such as computers, PDAs and wireless phones without the presence of any printed document.

Undeniably, the growing influence of technology has had a significant impact on the reading process of undergraduate students and it is thus of priority interest now to understand the factors influencing independent and digital reading. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In total, 231 questionnaires were administered among undergraduates at the University of Mauritius. A factor analysis was carried out and it was revealed that the attitude toward reading was mainly influenced by six aspects termed “Entertaining and Important,” “Lack of Interest,” “Convenience of Digital Reading,” “Utilitarian Purposes,” “Difficult Access to Reading Materials” and the “Compulsory Aspect.” This paper focuses also on determinants which could influence the behavior of undergraduates toward independent reading. In this sense, a binary logistic regression was performed.

Factors such as gender, the motivation to read and the time spent reading for academic purposes were found to be significant predictors. Also, given the impact of technology on the lifestyle, it was important to determine whether the respondents had adopted digital reading over printed reading by taking into consideration their preferred reading format. This query was taken care by a multinomial regression analysis where gender, faculty belonging and internet connection on mobile were found to influence the preferred method of reading by undergraduates.

The objectives are to analyze the reading habits and attitude of the undergraduates toward reading, evaluate factors which influence a student to engage in independent reading, determine factors that are likely to encourage students to prefer digital reading given the innovation in the e-reading field and to explore a possible relationship between independent reading and digital reading.

This chapter examines gender audit as a research method for organizational learning and change in a higher education context in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. This study examined the gender-related practices evident within one key part of the formal curriculum course syllabi. The results of the study provide a first step toward informing gender policy at the university as well as providing sample guidelines for other organizations in the region interested in examining their own policies as they move toward greater gender equality.

The purpose of this study was to attempt to answer some plausible questions like what do teenagers prefer to read at leisure, how do they read and why do they read? With the rapid changes in information technology, there is tremendous change in means of communication. Today, much more information is available from electronic and digital media as compared to traditional books. A paradigm shift in information delivery from just information to infotainment has also affected the preferences of the information seekers. Teenagers are a demographic group under transition and they are not untouched by these rapid changes in technology and their impact on their reading preferences.

For this purpose, a survey among 223 school-going (public/convent and government-/aided) teenagers aged between 12 and 18 years was done using a semi-structured questionnaire.

The findings revealed a decline in sports and outdoor recreational activities during leisure, and only 20.6 per cent teenagers preferred reading during leisure. However, self-perception as an avid reader was expressed by majority (53.8 per cent). Fictions were liked by > 75 per cent teenagers; however, non-fictions were also liked by majority (61.8 per cent). The reading preferences of the children were found to be affected by their age, their gender and the type of schools they attended. A significant inverse relationship of television watching and movie-going was observed with reading time.

The biggest limitation was inability to directly interact with the students and inability to gather data from more schools.

By knowing the current reading trends, leisure time habits and exposure to different means of information technology, the choice of medium for knowledge dispersal could be done. The study would help in providing a basis for a strategic change in the ratio of conventional books and other information media in the library.

By identifying the media exposure time and popularity, proper steps may be taken in order to enrich the particular media and to ensure that quality of information available on the media can be directed for social benefit in large.

The impact of demographic and environmental variables on reading habits of teenagers has not been evaluated in this part of the world, especially in view of the paradigm shift in information technology and the growing influence of electronic media and social networking. An understanding of this mutual relationship would help in modifying the reading behaviour of the teenagers.