A GENDER COMPARISON OF CONTEXTUALISED STUDY BEHAVIOR IN HIGHER-EDUCATION

The present study examines the manifestation of structural differences in the manner in which men and women students perceive and engage the content and context of learning. These differences are explored, and shown to be consistent, within a hierarchy of progressively more compl ex conceptual models of student learning. Conclusions are that structu ral gender variation differences emerge in terms of deep/strategic rat her than surface, forms of learning behaviour: men students distinctiv ely manifest and quality deep/strategic learning behaviour in terms of operation and comprehension learning styles, while women students int egrate these styles in a manifestation of style versatility that is cl early organised and not achievement motivated. An apparently separate female trait is distinguishable in terms of comprehension learning sty le and achievement motivation. It is argued that gender differences co nstitute a potentially important and neglected source of variation in student learning which, when detected in context, can and should be ex plicitly managed by academic practitioners.