Around the world, data shows that girls do better in school when there are no boys in the class.
Students hold up their hands in a class. (Illustration by News Decoder)
This article, by high school student Bryce Cohen was produced out of News Decoder’s school partnership program. Bryce is a student at The Hewitt School, a News Decoder partner institution. Learn more about how News Decoder can work with your school.
In her 23 years as an educator at Hunter College High School, a highly-competitive coeducational high school in New York City, Jana Lucash has found that boys in her class will often participate even when they are not prepared. Her female students, in contrast, seem to be unwilling to participate unless they absolutely know the correct answer.
This is one reason that many parents choose to send their daughters to all-girls schools. These schools are known for fostering connections and developing academic success.
But do social pressure, competition and other negative consequences outweigh the benefits of a predominantly female environment?
I attend an all-girls school and so I decided to explore the positive and negative aspects of being a part of this type of environment.
All-girls schools are educational institutions catering exclusively to female students, allowing them to grow intellectually and socially in a single-gender environment.
Gender segregation
These schools generally have a reputation for creating a supportive and empowering atmosphere for young girls and women. The purpose of an all-girls school is to encourage academic excellence, build confidence and teach leadership skills to their students.
While these institutions around the world often leave positive impacts on their attendees, like increased participation in class and eliminating distractions, they are also critiqued for their competitive nature, which could negatively affect student mental health.
These issues raise serious concerns and questions about how beneficial and positively impactful these all-girls schools truly are for the population that they serve.
Research has shown that all-girls schools increase student participation in the STEM field and other male-dominated fields after graduation. A study conducted by Goodman Research Group, back in 2005 asked some 1,000 recent graduates of all-girl schools to participate in a survey, which focused on the academic and social impact of single-gender institutions.
After conducting the survey, the authors found that 74% of the grads felt more encouragement in math, science and technology by attending an all-girls school. Additionally, they found that all-girls school graduates were six times more likely to major in science, math and technology, in comparison to girls attending coeducational schools.
Girl empowerment
All-girls institutions cultivate an environment where female students feel empowered to explore their interests and academic pursuits, specifically in male-dominated fields. This not only encourages young women to follow their aspirations, but allows them to challenge the stereotypical gender barriers in professional fields where women are underrepresented.
All-girls schools also offer students a social environment with a strong sense of community and an emphasis on building strong relationships. Many young women feel more connected to their peers and lose the social pressures that are typically present in coeducational schools.
A 2013 survey, which was conducted on behalf of the National Coalition for Girls Schools, asked a series of questions to 2,000 students from schools that were all-girls, with an additional 5,000 girls who attended coed private schools and another 5,000 girls who attended coed public schools.
The study concluded that almost 97% of all-girls school students felt their ideas and opinions were more respected at their single-gender school compared to 58% of girls at coeducational schools.
Without feeling pressure and judgement from their male counterparts, female students tend to feel more safe and are more inclined to express themselves and their ideas. This environment allows students to feel a sense of belonging, confidence and power that is not always found in a coed environment.
Coed education versus single-gender schools
At coeducational schools, girls’ voices and opinions might be self silenced or silenced by the more rambunctious boys in the room. In addition, these institutions and faculty can further undermine the confidence and self-worth of their female students.
Lucash at Hunter College High School, for example, found that girls tend to self-silence and boys have no trouble expressing themselves throughout class.
This sentiment is echoed by a 10th-grade student at The Hewitt School, which I attend. Abby Potenza attended a coeducational school prior to switching to Hewitt.
“Being at an all-girls school has given me both confidence and a sense of comfort to express my opinions and ask questions, which I did not receive at a coed school,” Potenza said. “I feel the environment, both social and educational, is stronger and more supportive at an all-girls school.”
When I was an elementary school student in a progressive, coeducational environment, I too experienced the detrimental impact of being silenced, both institutionally and by an educator.
Being silenced and self-silencing
In an advanced math class in fourth grade, I found myself one of three girls in a class of 20 students. For a school which valued diversity and equity, it was disturbing that the institution itself could not see that as a problem.
This shows that many institutions in the 21st century do not prioritize creating a supportive and empowering environment for girls.
Most positive associations with single-gender education can be countered by certain challenges and all-girls schools are no exception. While these schools empower young women and can foster a supportive environment, a sense of competition can often emerge.
Miriam Walden teaches English at The Hewitt School and sees a similar competitive nature.
“Even when you take away the boys in the classroom, there is still competition between girls, a lot of competition,” Walden said. “It’s very subtle and it’s very insidious and so there is a lot of harm that happens at the school, socially, around status, academic success, wealth, where you are going to college. All of this stuff becomes extremely damaging to many students.”
The global popularity of single-gender education
Outside of the United States, single-gender education is popular in many countries. The reasoning for attending these single-gender schools varies from community to community, country to country. Some of the variables that impact the choice to attend these schools include religion, socio-economic status and geography.
In 2022, University of Oslo researcher Sadaf Basharat looked at math achievement in Saudi Arabia where single-gender education is mandatory and found that girls do better than boys in math, according to international assessment standards known as TIMSS.
Other countries in the Middle East, such as Oman, Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain, which have a high proportion of single-gender schools, have also seen female students in recent years outperforming their male classmates in math.
While single-gender schools open the opportunity for girls and young women to be educated, countries such as Afghanistan are prohibiting women from attending secondary schools, whether single-gender or coeducational.
The academic effect single-gender schools in the United States have on their students is equal to the ones at international single-gender schools. A 2016 study in the Caribbean Educational Research Journal found that students at all-girls schools in the Caribbean have a higher passing rate than both girls attending coeducational schools, as well as boys in coeducational schools and single-gender schools.
Due to the demographics of the students who attend all-girls schools outside of the United States, the data is not as conclusive as to the negative impact of these types of schools on their students’ competitive nature.
For instance, UNESCO published a study by the London Business School’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor that found that all-girl’s schools in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Thailand attract a wealthier subset of the population, which could create a false representation of what the possible positive outcomes are.
Competition between girls
All-girls schools offer an educational environment with both important benefits and possible limitations for students. On one hand, these institutions offer students a supportive atmosphere which encourages them to reach their full potential and cultivate a strong sense of confidence. This environment can lead to higher academic success and a greater likelihood of breaking gender norms in the workplace.
They also encourage young women to move past gendered expectations regarding future intellectual pursuits and challenges them to break societal barriers by moving into STEM-based fields specifically.
On the other hand, all-girls schools can create a bubble of competition and rivalry that can limit a young woman’s development and aspirations. The focus on academic achievement is only intensified in a single-gender educational environment and can be pressuring and damaging.
Weighing out the benefits and drawbacks of an all-girls school is important when making the decision on whether to attend one, or in determining how you perceive single-gender schools in general. The question is, what would be best for you or your daughter?
The views and citations expressed by this student journalist are their own and not those of their school or any person or organization affiliated or doing business with their school.
Questions to consider:
1. Why might a parent choose to send a child to a single-gender school?
2. Why do some teachers think girls don’t do as well when there are boys in the class?
3. Do you think you would do better or worse by changing to an single-gender school if you attend a coed school now or vice versa? Why?
Bryce Cohen is entering the third year of high school at The Hewitt School in New York City. In school, Bryce enjoys English classes and participates in Model UN, Student Council and the Service Board.