Gender
and Learning
How do men learn differently than women?
A modest research to get us
started…
It is no secret that the church is more attractive to women than to men, especially Sunday School and small group Bible studies. While some argue the American Christian church is made up of 70% women and only 30% men, the ratio varies widely depending on the age, location and program of a church. Mainline denominations, older churches, and downtown churches all have a lopsided ratio of women over men, while other churches are more equal (though seldom are there more men than women, and by far the men in these churches are usually married men). Even taking the most generous figures, the American Christian church is at least 60% women.
So, where are the men? Are men “naturally” less religious? Or is the church somehow failing to connect with men? The students in the Fall 2001 the Adult Christian Education course at Indiana Wesleyan University pondered this question and decided to ask around. These students developed a survey instrument and personally interviewed 60 men and 62 women who were presently active in churches in five different states including churches from 75 to 3000. What follows is their findings. While these findings are not PhD type research these students probably discovered some preliminary indicators that will be useful to others doing more serious research.
Here’s what they discovered.
The women we surveyed said…
What
women said about how MEN seem to differ from women in learning
1. Men are logical
2. Men enjoy problem solving
3. Appeal to a man’s intellect
4. Men like facts
5. Men prefer lecture
6. Men would like more visuals
What
women said about how WOMEN seem to differ from men in learning
1. Women are relational
2. Women enjoy sharing
3. Appeal to a woman’s friendship
4. Women like fellowship
5. Women prefer discussion
6. Women like to talk and be intimate
What
women said about how the church MIGHT ATTRACT more men
1. Find activities that interest them
2. Give them hands-on projects
3. Find applicable subjects
4. Use sports
5. Use visuals in teaching
6. Have good male role models in leadership positions
7. Food
The men we surveyed said…
What men said about how MEN seem to differ from women in learning
1. Facts—logical and concrete
2. Activity oriented interaction
3. Visual learners
4. Need practical application—how does this apply to my occupation?
5. Direct—to the point
What
men said about how WOMEN seem to differ from men in learning
1. Relationships—socialize
2. Bonding oriented interaction
3. Auditory learners—discussion/dialogue
4. Deeper understanding
5. Interested in details
What
men said about how the church MIGHT ATTRACT more men
1. Classes with applicable topics—show importance and practicality
2. Offer all-male classes (but women won’t like it).
3. Organize activities that men would enjoy (camping, sports, hobbies, etc.)
4. Visible male leadership—have men invite other men—have men do the follow-up
5. Atmosphere: Music that relates to men—style—have more brooding, not all happy songs—let them sit and listen if they want to—avoid the popular “Jesus is my boyfriend” music, focus more on music with the themes: King—God—Warrior—Service, supported with images. Show movies in class
6. Food!
7. Activities outside of the church building—not always learning by sitting like “good little boys.”
OK. You have the “raw data” from the students now listed in order of frequency
responses. Now, what would you say are
the preliminary “findings” from this mini-research project?
q What differences do you see between how woman and men
see each others’ learning?
q What differences do you see between how women and men
think the church can attract more men?
q Using only responses where both groups agreed list the
most prominent learning preferences of each gender.
q Given this data, what would you actually do in your
church to attract more men into worship and discipleship?
So, what do you
think? Do these finding ring true to
you?
So what do you think?
To contribute to the thinking on this issue
e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu
Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday
STUDENTS
WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS PROJECT:
Billington, Amie
Bills, Rosalee
Bos, Chip
Bradley, Heather
Briden, Lynn
Crisp, Eric
Curtis, Mary
Deveau, Amber
Dickmeyer, Richard
Elsberry, Mandy
Fox, Jonathan
Freed, Christina
Hayes, Melissa
Hontz, Amanda
Horn, Rebecca
Kramp, Stacey
Lockhart, Kristin
McKee, Malea
Myers, Jonathan
Newlin, Hanna
Newsham, Merilee
Parry, Bethany
Price, Michelle
Runkle, Bethany
Saddler, Elizabeth
Salisbury, Jamie
Schiavone, Joy
Warner, Laura
Wilkins, Jenessa
Zelko, Rebecca
Zimmerman, Matthew