College Students Are Having Trouble Reading Entire Books

British professors say that many of their student struggle to read assigned books from cover to cover, a problem that the students attribute to the lack of time they’ve given to complete those texts.

Students study legal texts in the law faculty library at Humboldt University prior to the beginning of the winter semester on October 11, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Adam Berry/Getty Images

British professors say that many of their student struggle to read assigned books from cover to cover, a problem that the students attribute to the lack of time they’re given to complete those texts. 

The conversation was sparked by professors who said that many students nowadays find finishing books “daunting” and blamed it on their short attention spans. 

“Students struggle with set texts, saying the language or concepts are too hard,” said Jenny Pickerill, a professor in environmental geography at the University of Sheffield, according to the Independent.  

There is currently a disjuncture between the types of reading we want students to engage with and the types students feel able or willing to do.

— Jenny Pickerill, professor, the University of Sheffield