The relationship of gender with reading performance, reading enjoyment, perceived ability and perceived difficulty in a sample of Romanian students

Difficulties in reading comprehension and gender differences are increasing concerns for the educational systems. The purpose of this study is to investigate gender differences concerning reading enjoyment, perceived competence, perceived reading difficulty and performance in reading. Using a secondary data analysis of the 2018 PISA survey, this research paper assessed the differences between boys and girls in reading literacy on a sample of Romanian students. Difficulties in reading comprehension were found to be an issue for most of the Romanian students while gender differences were present for all the analysed dimensions, girls outperforming boys in the reading performance, reading enjoyment and perceived competencies in reading but scoring lower levels of the perceived difficulty in reading. Further research is needed to develop intervention programmes.