Comments on: Are Females Better at Blogging Than Males?

By: biologyblog

biologyblog — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:09:04 +0000

No, you have more of a life – I like hearing about the trips into the city.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:43:41 +0000

Maybe I just have less of a life.

By: biologyblog

biologyblog — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:36:56 +0000

I have had two males plagiarize their blog posts.
Aside from that I haven’t noticed much of a difference.

I do think you are a better blogger than I, so maybe there is something to it.

By: Jan Smith

Jan Smith — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:59:17 +0000

My experience with my 27 grade 6 bloggers (blogging for less than 2 months) is that gender isn’t correlated to their success.
Having said that, I do think I might have had different results if I had restricted their content to reflective writing. I have found (many) boys tire of navel-gazing, while (many) girls process their thinking this way. My students are using their blogs to pursue personal interests as well as respond to learning in the classroom. So far the balance is working.
Other factors beyond gender that seem to influence their blogging: general engagement in learning, comfort with technology, comfort with public nature of blogging, language processing challenges, fear of failure, access & support beyond the classroom…
I am curious to read what others have experienced.

By: Bill Genereux

Bill Genereux — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:44:41 +0000

I’m just back from a conference in which I heard Kenneth Wesson speaking about brain research. According to Wesson, (http://tinyurl.com/6hch6p) females have around 11% more brain cells than males, giving them a “distinct neurological advantage in language-related abilities.”

Even so, saying “I can’t” is an unacceptable response for males, because they can. Males and females are indeed different, but we need to hear from both perspectives. If “I can’t” were true, there would be no male writers, and it doesn’t take much research to see that is not the case.