A PILOT STUDY OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DIVERGENT THINKING AMONG COLLEGIATE ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDENTS

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the difference between male and female students studying undergraduate degree in English. A total of 100 male English and 100 female English students were selected from various affiliated colleges of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad. The data was collected from various students through the respondents in the form of self-designed questionnaire. The data was collected through the respondents in the form of various descriptive tests. The demographic information about, use of Facebook, use of WhatsApp, Participation in Debates, Participation in Essay Writing, Participation in Quizzes, Participation in Story Writing, Use of Internet and Participation in sports was obtained before seeking responses. The self-design questionnaire was used to measure the Divergent thinking of the students. The findings of the study revealed that significant differences were found in Divergent thinking between male and female students. It was found that male English students had better Divergent thinking than their counterparts.

Keywords: Gender, Divergent thinking, literature, students