Gendered Perceptions Of Academic Memes In Higher Education

Denanear Fatmanenko, Diah Retno Widowati, Moch. Imron Azami

Abstract


Academic memes have become a significant part of university students' digital communication, yet how students perceive them and how gender shapes those perceptions remain underexplored in Indonesian higher education. This study explored gender-based differences in how university students perceive, interpret, and integrate academic memes into academic settings. Four participants, two males and two females, from two disciplinary backgrounds in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, took part in semi-structured interviews using five academic memes as elicitation instruments, analyzed through six-phase thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: memes as relatable and humorous academic artifacts, gendered patterns in consumption and interpretation, perceived benefits and limitations, and conditional acceptance with ethical considerations. Male participants tended to convert memes into individual moral lessons or outward-directed guidance and critique, reflecting a comedic and pedagogical orientation, while female participants used memes more for emotional expression, community building, and indirect social critique. All participants recognized memes as beneficial for vocabulary, engagement, memory retention, and stress relief, but also raised concerns such as trivialization, misinformation, and language barriers, conditionally accepting classroom use. These findings highlight the need for gender-aware, context-sensitive approaches to meme-based pedagogy in Indonesian higher education.

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