Gender and Narrative Writing in Elementary Schools: A Qualitative Study Supporting Inclusive Education

Research design

This study uses a critical qualitative approach with a case study design (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Yin, 2017), which aims not only to describe the differences in narrative styles between male and female students but also to unravel the social and cultural structures that make up these differences. The qualitative approach is grounded in interpretive paradigms that emphasize understanding lived experiences and social constructions (Denzin & Lincoln, 2017). This study analyzes how elementary school grade V students structure their narratives, including in terms of character depiction, plot structure, language use, and the relationship of these aspects to gender-based literacy stereotypes. The study was conducted in an Indonesian public elementary school in an urban environment in Karawang, where cultural norms influenced by traditional gender roles, such as boys as active adventurers and girls as relational caregivers, are still strong. his is in line with the policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture (2008), which issued a regulation, Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional No. 84 Tahun 2008, and SDGs Goal 4 and Goal 5 which support quality education and gender equality (Bappenas, 2019). In addition, the 2015-2025 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) policy focuses on improving gender equality in education, aiming to create equal opportunities for all students (Carolina, 2019). These factors contextualize how societal expectations can reinforce or challenge gender stereotypes in narratives, which in turn shapes student writing expressions with more inclusive approaches and storytelling that supports gender equality.

Participants

This study used two primary data sources: observation of 33 written documents and interviews with 10 students. The documents analyzed were student narratives, focusing on character depiction, plot structure, language use, and how these aspects relate to gender-based literacy stereotypes. The selection of these 33 documents was carried out purposively, ensuring that they reflected a variety of narrative styles and allowed for in-depth thematic analysis. This approach aligns with recommendations for small, purposive samples in educational qualitative research (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Patton, 2015).

In addition to the document analysis, 10 students were selected for interviews using purposive sampling. The criteria for selection were based on the presence of distinctive gendered writing patterns in their narratives, which made them relevant for further exploration in line with the study’s focus. This purposive approach allowed the researcher to target participants who could provide rich, contextual insights into both the narrative writing process and the influence of gender in writing. The sample size of 10 students was considered sufficient to achieve depth of analysis while remaining manageable for detailed qualitative inquiry.

The participants were all from a single grade V class at a public elementary school in urban Karawang, Indonesia. Informed consent was obtained in writing from parents or legal guardians of all participants prior to data collection, explaining the study’s purpose, procedures, potential risks, and the right to withdraw at any time. For the minor participants, verbal assent was secured directly from the children to ensure their understanding and willingness, as written assent may be challenging due to their age and developmental stage, which aligns with ethical guidelines from the Declaration of Helsinki and the American Psychological Association (2017). Participation was voluntary, with students free to opt out without penalty, and all involved did so willingly without assignment coercion. During the data collection, participants provided explanations as needed for task clarification but did not contribute to the validation of data post-collection due to the written nature of the task. To ensure confidentiality, all participants were anonymized using pseudonyms (e.g., Student M1 for male student 1) throughout the analysis and reporting, and no identifiable information, such as names or exact locations, was disclosed.

Data collection

The main instrument in this study is the task of writing narratives. Students are asked to write a narrative story with the theme “Vacation Experience.” Instructions emphasize the drafting of a complete narrative structure: introduction, conflict, climax, and resolution. However, the main focus is not only on technical quality but also on how the written narrative reflects self-representation, social relations, and the influence of gender norms in their written expression. This study uses the following categories of narrative analysis (see Table 1 for details).

Figure 1. Data analysis flowchart.

Figure 1 shows the analysis process following a systematic analysis using a critical thematic approach.

From the Table 1, the assessment of narrative writing ability using the formula:

From the calculation of the formula above, the value in each aspect is cumulative so that the final value in writing a narrative can be obtained. This category was chosen not only as a technical tool but also as a means of reading the patterns of ideological expression implied in children’s writing.

The next data collection was conducted by researchers using interviews with 10 selected students to provide deeper insight into their narrative writing process. The data collection process involves recording and transcribing the results of the interview. Each interview is recorded using an audio recorder on a smartphone device. After the interview is over, the researcher transcribes the audio recordings to ensure that the data obtained can be analyzed carefully and accurately.

This transcription is then used to identify themes that emerge in students’ conversations about their experiences in writing narratives, as well as how they perceive gender norms in their writing. All transcripts are required to be anonymized to protect the privacy of the participants, using pseudonyms or identifier codes that do not reveal personal information such as the participant’s real name or location. The transcription process is carefully carried out to ensure that no information is missed or misinterpreted. After the transcription is complete, the researcher also verifies by re-reading the results of the interview and transcription to ensure the accuracy of the data collected.

Data collection procedure

The data collection process was carried out for one week, from October 7 to October 12, 2024, with the task of writing a narrative given on October 3, 2024. Data collection was carried out by assigning narrative writing tasks to all students simultaneously in class for 60 minutes. Instruction is given orally and in writing to ensure students’ understanding of the assignment given. No changes were made to the planned procedures, as the original design had been adapted to the possible class conditions.

After the assignment is completed, the students’ writing is collected for further analysis. Handwriting is collected directly in the form of a physical document; there is no use of voice recorders or additional software during data collection. However, to obtain more in-depth data, interviews were conducted with 10 selected students to dig deeper into their experiences in writing narratives and their views on the influence of gender norms in their writing. Interviews are conducted in a structured manner with relevant questions to gain insight into the thinking process and students’ perspectives on research themes.

Data analysis

The data analysis process follows systematic steps as listed below.

The data was analyzed using a critical thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Nowell, Norris, White, & Moules, 2017), It starts with open coding of all the results of narrative writing. The coding process is done manually without the use of software, through iterative reading in which segments of the text are highlighted and labeled to reflect the true meaning of the narrative.

To ensure accuracy, digital transcriptions of interviews are compared to the original handwritten data to verify the fidelity of the data, with no discrepancies recorded. Each narrative is analyzed to find dominant themes related to character depictions, emotions, social relationships, and the arrangement of conflicts and climaxes. This analysis not only stops at the linguistic and structural level, but is also geared towards identifying how gender norms are represented and reproduced in students’ writing.

Data from male and female students were then compared to explore patterns of expression dominance, thematic differences, and the marginalization potential of certain forms of expression. The analysis process is carried out in stages, starting from coding and grouping themes to comparisons between genders, to gain a comprehensive understanding.

Triangulation was conducted by comparing empirical findings with existing literature on children’s narratives and gender roles, such as research by Clarke, Marks, & Lykins (2016); Odağ (2013); Radina (2019) and others. Furthermore, validation was conducted through joint reading by several researchers of various text samples (involving two independent raters) to maintain objectivity of interpretation. Furthermore, student interviews were used as part of data triangulation to validate findings obtained from the analysis of written narratives. The interviews were conducted to delve deeper into the students’ perspectives on how they view gender norms reflected in their narrative writing. The interview results were compared with the findings of narrative writing to identify consistency or differences in their perspectives, which in turn provided deeper insights into the social factors that influenced their writing.

In addition, discussions and joint readings by several researchers were also carried out to ensure that the interpretation and analysis carried out were appropriate and acceptable. This increases the credibility of the analysis results (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Discussions between researchers were conducted to minimize subjective bias in data interpretation.

The data entry process is carried out by transcribing handwritten narrative writing manuals into password-protected digital files (stored on secure university servers with encrypted access and regular backups via Google Drive with two-factor authentication). Data security is managed by restricting access to only the research team, in accordance with Indonesia’s personal data protection regulations listed in Law ( Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection, 2022) and deleting raw files after the analysis is completed. Anonymity is maintained by immediately encoding the data, ensuring no private identifiers remain in the dataset.

Ethical consideration

The research and community service institute of Universitas Buana Perjuangan Karawang has approved this research with the contract number: 062/LPPM/UBP/2025. The researcher gave a letter of approval has also been given by the researcher to all respondents. Written consent to participate from the respondent was obtained in accordance with document 400.3.5/110/SD/2025. Respondents gave their consent without force from anyone. Subsequently, in order to protect the rights and privacy of the respondents, all forms of data acquired will remain confidential.

Story content

Male student writing tends to feature an action-oriented narrative, with a focus on physical activities such as playing ball, swimming, and everyday activities (Anggraeni, Sunendar, & Cahyani, 2025a). Their stories show a linear, simple plot with a plot score of 2.4 and often without conflict or strong resolution. Characters in the story are only mentioned without character development or deep emotional expression, which is reflected in the characterization score of 2.0. The following is an example of the results of the narration writing of male students shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Male student narrative writing results (This visualization is based on the dataset available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30353890.v1).

The writing of male students shows a tendency to construct stories based on repetitive and linear series of physical activities, as in the quote, “My sister and I were swimming. My sister and I played on slides. My sister and I bought sausages…” This plot does not show any climax, conflict, or emotional reflection. The narrative stops at reporting activities without depth of meaning. This reinforces the view that male narrative styles are formed to show ‘liveliness,’ not ‘feelings.’ The setting is used only as an action support, with no depiction of the atmosphere, which is reflected in the background score of 2.2. This is a common pattern of male narratives that do not place value on an emotional or atmospheric setting. In addition, the narrative of male students shows that the representation of the figure of ‘me’ is only portrayed as a perpetrator of the activity, without reflection of feelings or relational involvement. This reflects the form of narrative shaped by masculinity norms that emphasize independence, physical strength, and minimal emotional expression. One of the male students stated in an interview: “I prefer to write about playing football or swimming because that’s what I do the most. Usually, I just tell what happened without thinking too much about the feelings or relationships between the characters. That’s not really important in my opinion.” (Anggraeni, Sunendar, & Cahyani, 2025b).

In contrast, female students’ narratives show a tendency toward emotional expression, depiction of atmosphere, and deeper interpersonal relationships. The main character not only performs activities but also establishes social relationships and portrays feelings in certain situations. This shows that self-expression in their writing is more influenced by affective values and feminine norms such as empathy and attachment (Anggraeni et al., 2025a). As one female student stated: “I love writing about my vacation experiences with my family because it makes me feel happy.” (Anggraeni et al., 2025b). This is supported by a higher narrative content score of female students, which is 28.7 compared to male students, who are 26.5. The following is an example of the narrative writing of female students shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Results of narrative writing for female students (This visualization is based on the dataset available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30353890.v1).

The narrative writing of female students in Figure 3 can build a plot with a time and emotion orientation. This is reflected in the flow score of 3.0 and the background score of 2.7. It exhibits a reflective and expressive narrative style, which is culturally more attached to the feminine role: organizing, paying attention to the atmosphere, and expressing feelings. As in the excerpt of the story piece “On Wednesday, December 31st… We went to Karang Pawitan to see the fireworks to welcome 2025… I’m so happy to see so many fireworks…”

This narrative shows the orientation of time, place, atmosphere, and personal feelings. This narrative style is more expressive and relational. The characterization of the narrative of women who have a characterization score of 2.0 emphasizes relationships and social connections, not just actions. This supports the assumption that women’s narratives often place them in a social context, rather than as independent individuals like male narratives. When viewed from the setting, female students are more involved in the emotional and sensory aspects of the reader, a narrative strategy that rarely appears in male student narratives. This suggests that female students are more sensitive to the emotional and aesthetic context of events (Anggraeni et al., 2025a).

Organization and cohesion

The writing of male students shows a fragmented narrative structure, with jumps between activities without strong logical transitions. Coherence between sections is often broken, reflecting event-oriented narrative processing rather than reflection or character development. This is reflected in the essay structure score of 2.4 and cohesion and coherence of only 2.2, which is a lower score than female students. This can be understood as part of a ‘masculine’ narrative construction, which prioritizes action over relationships. As in the phrases “Me and my sister swim…” “My sister and I bought sausages…” and “My sister and I play…” There is a lack of structural variation; it tends to be mechanical. Sentences do not develop semantically. This style is often considered ‘less attractive’ academically, but it may reflect a more “straight to the core” male communication pattern that is unfortunately often not valued in literacy curricula.

This finding is supported by interview data, where one male student stated:

Such a statement reinforces the idea that the fragmented structure is not merely a technical weakness but also a deliberate narrative choice aligned with a preference for brevity and directness.

Meanwhile, female students showed the ability to organize narratives in a more orderly manner, although some stories still ended abruptly. This is supported by a higher essay structure score of 3.0 and cohesion and coherence of 2.8. The cohesion of ideas and emotions is more evident in their narratives, showing an awareness of the need to unite social and mental experiences in a single story. In the narrative of the female, there are enough connectors of ideas (“after that,” “we got to…”) indicating that there is an effort to build a cohesive narrative even though it is not technically perfect. The emphasis on the continuity of events and emotions is a hallmark of narratives that are sensitive to social relations and feelings, in contrast to masculine narrative styles that are often discrete and change topics abruptly.

Interview evidence supports this interpretation. One female student explained:

This shows that female students have a conscious awareness of narrative flow and emotional coherence, which translates into higher organization and cohesion scores.

Language and diction

Male students’ writing features short sentence structure, simple diction, and a lack of emotional variety. This is reflected in the sentence structure usage score of 2.5 and diction of 2.6, which shows a concise and action-oriented form of communication. As in the example of the male student’s narrative in Figure 2, there are many repetitions of words, for example, the words “swimming,” “playing,” and “me and my sister.” This shows that the sentence structure is very simple. Words are chosen based on actions, not reflections or expressions. This shows the role of gender stereotypes in language choices, where boys tend to avoid emotional expressions that are considered feminine.

This interpretation is supported by interview data. One male student expressed:

This statement indicates that boys’ choice of simple, repetitive diction is not only a technical limitation but also a reflection of discomfort with emotional vocabulary, aligning with the masculine norm of emotional restraint.

In contrast, female students tend to use more expressive diction, emotional verbs, and sentence formulation that contains evaluations of situations. This is supported by slightly higher sentence structure and diction usage scores, 2.5 and 2.6, respectively, with a tendency to use expressive words such as “I’m really happy…” and “very crowded…” This diction is simple, but there is an attempt to explain the mood. Female student narrative writing uses more expressive and repetitive words, showing that this writing is directed to express emotions and experience involvement, not just record actions. This supports the finding that female narratives emphasize subjective experiences and emotional attachment, something that is less found in the writing of male students.

The interviews with female students corroborate this finding. One female student explained:

This response shows that female students have greater intentionality in choosing words that evoke feelings and atmosphere, reinforcing their higher scores in narrative expressiveness.

Writing conventions

Both male and female students show technical errors, such as spelling and punctuation. This is reflected in the relatively low score of spelling and punctuation use, which is 1.5 for male students and 2.0 for female students. However, this error often masks the potential for greater narrative depth, especially when the narrative is read only from the grammatical aspect. It is important to note that the assessment of students’ work is not biased only on academic technical aspects so that it can provide space for richer and more diverse narrative expression.

Gender norms and stereotypes in narrative writing

Based on the study of the results of narrative writing, it reveals how gender norms and stereotypes are implicitly represented and reproduced in student writing. The narrative of male students tends to assert traditional masculinity norms that emphasize independence, physical activeness, and emotional control. The ‘me’ figure in male narratives is more often portrayed as an actor without deep emotional involvement, which reflects social expectations for men to appear strong and not affectively expressive (Anggraeni et al., 2025a).

This interpretation is reinforced by interview data. One male student stated:

This quote illustrates how masculine identity construction leads boys to avoid affective expressions and focus on actions, aligning with hegemonic masculinity norms that value independence and physical activity.

In contrast, female student narratives feature feminine norms that emphasize social attachment, empathy, and emotional expression. Characters in women’s narratives not only play an active role but also show a connection with others and a rich reflection of feelings.

A female student shared during the interview:

This statement confirms that girls see emotions as an integral part of storytelling, reflecting cultural expectations that validate empathy and relational sensitivity.

These findings suggest that even though students write based on personal experiences, they are still influenced by the social and cultural constructs that shape their understanding of gender roles. The interviews demonstrate that boys’ avoidance of emotional vocabulary and girls’ preference for emotive and relational narratives are not purely individual tendencies but are socially reinforced patterns.

Gendered narrative styles

The comparison between the narratives of male and female students shows a different pattern of dominance of expression, where the male narrative style is more oriented towards external actions and events, while the female narrative style emphasizes interpersonal relationships and emotional depth. This pattern reflects not only individual preferences but also the potential marginalization of certain styles of expression in educational contexts. For example, more direct and simple male narratives are often undervalued in literacy assessments that prioritize the emotional depth and complexity of the narrative, which tend to be associated with female styles (Anggraeni et al., 2025a).

Interview data provides additional insight into this phenomenon. One male student stated:

This quote highlights that brevity and action-focus are conscious narrative choices rather than merely technical limitations, suggesting that boys value efficiency and directness in their storytelling.

Conversely, a female student shared:

This illustrates that girls intentionally craft narratives to evoke empathy and emotional engagement from readers, which aligns with their higher scores in content and organization.

This pattern has implications for the reproduction of gender inequality in literacy education, where masculine expressions can be marginalized or considered less valuable when assessment criteria favor detailed, emotionally rich narratives. These findings are in line with critical literacy theory that emphasizes the importance of critiquing hidden norms and values in literacy practice, as well as gender studies that show how education can reproduce or challenge gender stereotypes.

Limitations and further research

This study has several limitations that should be acknowledged. First, the research was conducted in a single public elementary school in an urban setting, which may limit the generalizability of findings to rural schools or different socio-economic contexts. Second, the qualitative data were based on written narratives and interviews from a relatively small sample (33 students, 10 interviews), which, while sufficient for in-depth thematic analysis, may not capture the full diversity of narrative styles across Indonesia.

Future research should expand to multiple schools with diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, employ larger and more balanced samples, and consider longitudinal designs to observe how gendered narrative styles evolve over time. Mixed-method approaches integrating quantitative linguistic analysis tools (e.g., corpus linguistics software) could provide additional objectivity. It would also be valuable to explore teacher perceptions and grading rubrics to determine how assessment practices directly shape and potentially reinforce these gendered narrative patterns. Finally, cross-cultural studies comparing Indonesian data with other countries in Southeast Asia could offer insights into whether these patterns are culturally specific or universal.