Gender as a Determinant of Student Engagement for University Students

Critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration with others, and effective communication are 21st-century skills and competencies (Ananiadou and Claro, 2009). Researchers have identified that student engagement contributes to the achievement of the mentioned skills and competencies (Carini, et al., 2006). However, research suggests that the more years students spend in school, the less engaged they become (Klem Connell, 2004). All these facts about student engagement refer to the importance of the development of effective engagement policy and practices, especially for university students. For this reason, this study aims both to investigate whether gender differences affect students’ engagement levels at higher education and to contribute to the efforts to develop effective engagement policies and practices. A survey conducted over university students from various universities. In order to identify the characteristics of participants, a detailed demographic information form was developed by researchers. Student engagement was measured with the student engagement scale, developed by Günüç and Kuzu (2015), to measure student engagement in higher education, specifically. Both demographic form and student engagement questionnaire were distributed to university students, and 483 university students participated. Collected data were analyzed statistically; descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, and independent samples t-test were conducted. Results of confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that items of the scale were loaded on six factors: Relationships with the faculty members, sense of belonging, cognitive engagement, peer relationships, behavioral engagement, and valuing. These results were compatible with the original factor structure provided by Günüç and Kuzu (2015). The results of t-tests suggest that there was a significant difference between male and female students concerning student engagement levels. Female students have higher engagement scores than male students both for total student engagement and all factors of student engagement. Results of descriptive statistics provide useful insight for policymakers and practitioners while developing policies for increasing student engagement in higher education. These results could help researchers and practitioners by addressing and identifying new fields to study, as well.