Gender and Education: Exploring the Differences in Learning Experiences and Academic Achievements Among Universities of Punjab's Students

Abstract

The gender differences in relation to learning process and female academic performance in the Universities of Punjab province, Pakistan using a narrative inquiry methodology. While quantitative research describes the statistical gender disparities in higher education, it fails to examine the actual experience of students in the realities of sociocultural factors, economic factors, and institutional environments. The study, utilizing deep and semi-structured interviews with both male and female undergraduate and postgraduate students in both public and private universities, examines how gender influences academic responsibility, classroom involvement, motivation, self-belief, and how the construction of academic success is done between men and women. Results indicate that female students tend to focus on future expectations, fortitude, and perseverance, while male students focus on social and economic duties, confidence, and physical successes. There are also different experiences of classroom engagement, learning strategies, and psychosocial well-being that are also gendered. The research highlights the relational and context-dependent nature of gender by placing the narratives of students in advance, instead of singling them out as a fixed category. The research paper is added to the literature on gendered academic experiences in the Global South and provides implications for inclusive, context-sensitive policies and pedagogies in higher education.