Does Book Reading Matter and For Whom? Leisure Reading Habits and Reading Performance for Male and Female Undergraduates

This study reports a mixed-methods investigation (N = 60) of undergraduates ’ self-reported reading habits, interactions with two informational texts during think-alouds, and reading performance in identifying and recalling important ideas. Reported book reading differed strongly between males and females; 43 % of males reported reading books compared to 84 % of females. For males, book reading related to differences in performance, with a reliable difference observed in performance on the more unfamiliar text on statistical inference. Male book readers scored higher on this passage (M = 1.17) than non-book readers (M =.31), despite lower pre-test scores for topic knowledge and topic interest. Analyses of think-alouds from both groups of males revealed non-book readers as more likely to exhibit ineffective strategic behaviors. 2 What college students bring to school-related reading activities in the way of an approach to reading encompassing both attitude and strategic capabilities may be related to their out-of-school, self-selected reading. Those undergraduates who choose to read for enjoyment, and who choose for their leisure reading lengthy, connected texts may be more capable and confident readers. However, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has identified several disturbing trends relating to frequency and nature of leisure reading, among them a decline in leisure reading, particularly book reading, over adolescence, with this decline continuing into the college years (NEA, 2007). Frequency of leisure book reading is consistently and strongly associated with reading performance, with more frequent book readers scoring higher on reading assessments (NEA, 2007). Ability to handle complex text has been identified as one of the keys to college readiness (ACT, 2006); experience with extended, connected text through book reading is an essential aspect of the development of such ability. Further, we know that reading habits and gender are consistently and strongly related throughout the lifespan, with females likely to read more, and to report enjoying reading more than males (NEA, 2007; Pitcher et al.