Pen to Paper: Unraveling University Students' Perceived Academic Writing Difficulties across Gender and Academic Disciplines

Abstract

Proficiency in academic writing is considered as one of the most requisite and
indispensable skills for university students to master worldwide. The mastery in this
skill involves students’ capability to express and organize innovative ideas along with
use of sentences with accuracy to create logical, meaningful and coherent text. The
main objective of this study, therefore, was to examine university students' perceived
academic writing difficulties across gender and academic disciplines. This research
employed quantitative research design; a self-developed survey questionnaire,
comprising 36 items and distributed in three subscales, was designed to seek views of
442 university students about difficulties they face while engaging with academic
writing. Three types of statistical techniques were used to analyze quantitative data i.e.,
factor analysis, descriptive statistics (Percentage, Mean score, SD) and inferential
statistics to analyze and compare university students’ views about their academic
writing difficulties. The findings of the factor analysis supported the use of the
Academic Writing Difficulties Questionnaire [AWDQ] as a valid tool to analyze
university students’ perception of their academic writing difficulties. This study also
suggests some potential solutions for students as well as teachers to overcome
students’ academic writing difficulties.