![Students on the Eton College Summer Holiday Programme](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Students_on_the_Eton_College_Summer_Holiday_Programme.jpg)
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of single-sex schooling was common before the 20th century, particularly in
secondary
Secondary may refer to: Science and nature
* Secondary emission, of particles
** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products
* The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...
and
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
. Single-sex education is practiced in many parts of the world based on tradition and religion; recently, there has been a surge of interest and the establishment of single-sex schools due to educational research.
[ Riordan, C. (2009). The Effects of Single Sex Schools: Alced. Argentina](_blank)
/ref> Single-sex education is most popular in English-speaking countries (regions) such as Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
; also in Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and in many Muslim majority countries.[C. Riordan (2011). The Value of Single Sex Education: Twenty Five Years of High Quality Research, Third International Congress of the European Association for Single Sex Education, Warsaw, Poland.] In the Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. , single-sex education is primarily associated with the private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The ...
, with the public (state) sector being overwhelmingly mixed sex; while in the Muslim world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
public schools and private schools are sex-segregated. Motivations for single-sex education range from religious ideas of sex segregation
Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their biological sex. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex w ...
to beliefs that the sexes learn and behave differently. As such, they thrive in a single-sex environment. In the 19th century, in Western countries, single-sex girls' finishing schools
A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wi ...
, and women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
s offered women a chance of education at a time when they were denied access to mainstream educational institutions. The former was especially common in Switzerland, the latter in the U.S. and the U.K., pioneers in women's education.
History
In Western Europe before the 19th century, the most common way for girls to access education was at home, through private tutoring, and not at school, due to the strong resistance to women's involvement in schools. This attitude began to change in the 17th and 18th centuries, when girls' schools were established in both Catholic Europe, where they were managed by nuns, as well as in Protestant Europe, where they were managed by governesses, philanthropists, and private entrepreneurs. The development was similar in the U.S., where early feminists also successfully established women's educational institutions. These were different from and considered inferior to men's institutions. However, they created some of the first opportunities to formalized higher education for women in the Western world. The Seven Sisters colleges
The Seven Sisters refers to seven highly selective liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges: Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Wellesley College ...
offered unprecedented emancipation for women. The pioneer Salem College
Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational establ ...
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
, was founded in 1772, originally as a primary school, later becoming an academy (high school) and finally a college. The New England Female Medical College
New England Female Medical College (NEFMC), originally Boston Female Medical College, was founded in 1848 by Samuel Gregory and was the first school to train women in the field of medicine. It merged with Boston University to become the Boston Uni ...
(1848) and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) was founded in 1850, and was the second medical institution in the world established to train women in medicine to earn the M.D. degree. The New England Female Medical College had been establishe ...
(1850) were the first medical institutions in the world established to train women in medicine and offer them the M.D. degree.
During the 19th century, ideas about education started to change: modern ideas that defined education as a right, rather than as a privilege available only to a small elite, started to gain support in North America and Europe. Mass elementary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or firs ...
was introduced, and more and more coeducational schools opened. Together with mass education, coeducation became standard in many places. Increased secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
in the 20th century also contributed to the acceptance of mixed sex education
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting ...
. In 1917 coeducation was mandated in the Soviet Union. According to Cornelius Riordan, "By the end of the nineteenth century, coeducation was all but universal in American elementary and secondary public schools (see Kolesnick, 1969; Bureau of Education, 1883; Butler, 1910; Riordan, 1990). Furthermore, by the end of the 20th century, this was largely true across the world. In the U.K., Australia, and Ireland, the tradition of single-sex education remained quite strong until the 1960s. The 1960s and 1970s were a period of intense social changes. Many anti-discrimination laws were passed during that era, such as the 1972 Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
. Wiseman (2008) shows that by 2003, only a few countries globally have greater than one or two percent single-sex schools. But there are exceptions where the percent of single-sex schools exceeds 10 percent: Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and most Muslim nations. Recently, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in single-sex schools in modern societies across the globe, both in the public and private sector (Riordan, 2002)."
Effects
The topic of single-sex education is controversial. Advocates argue that it aids student outcomes such as test scores, graduation rates, and solutions to behavioral difficulties. Opponents, however, argue that evidence for such effects is inflated or non-existent and instead argue that such segregation can increase sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
and impairs the development of interpersonal skills.
Advocates of single-sex education believe that there are persistent gender differences
Sex differences in humans have been studied in a variety of fields. Sex determination occurs by the presence or absence of a Y in the 23rd pair of chromosomes in the human genome. Phenotypic sex refers to an individual's sex as determined by the ...
in how boys and girls learn and behave in educational settings and that such differences merit educating them separately. One version of this argument holds that male-female brain differences favor implementing gender-specific teaching methods, but such claims have not held up to rigorous scrutiny. In addition, supporters of single-sex education argue that by segregating the genders, students do not become distracted by the other gender's actions in the classrooms. Supporters of single-sex education also argue that the culture of coeducational settings causes some students to focus more on socialization, rather than prioritizing academics. Single-sex education supporters blame this focus on socialization for causing problems in student participation, attendance levels, and disciplinary problems.
US 2005 systematic review and 2008 study
A systematic review published in 2005 covering 2221 studies was commissioned by the United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
entitled ''Single-sex versus coeducational schooling: A systematic review''. The review, which had statistical controls for socio-economic status of the students and resources of the schools, etc., found that in the study on the effects of single-sex schooling:
:"the results are equivocal. There is some support for the premise that single-sex schooling can be helpful, especially for certain outcomes related to academic achievement and more positive academic aspirations. For many outcomes, there is no evidence of either benefit or harm. There is limited support for the view that single-sex schooling may be harmful or that coeducational schooling is more beneficial for the student."
:"In terms of outcomes that may be of most interest to the primary stakeholders (students and their parents), such as academic achievement, self-concept, and long-term indicators of success, there is a degree of support for ingle-sexschooling."
In general, most studies reported positive effects for single-sex schools on all-subject achievement tests, and the preponderance of studies in areas such as academic accomplishment (both concurrent and long term) and adaptation or socioemotional development (both concurrent and long term) yields results lending support to single-sex schooling.
The quantitative data itself "finds positive results are three to four times more likely to be found for single-sex schools than for coeducational schools in the same study for both academic achievement and socio-emotional development," said Cornelius Riordan, one of the directors of the research.
In 2008, the U.S. government sponsored another study, ''Early Implementation of Public Single-Sex Schools: Perceptions and Characteristics'', which listed the benefits of single-sex schools: (1) Decreases distractions in learning, (2) Reduces student behavior problems, (3) Provides more leadership opportunities, (4) Promotes a sense of community among students and staff, (5) Improves student self-esteem, (6) Addresses unique learning styles and interests of boys or girls, (7) Decreases sex bias in teacher-student interactions, (8) Improves student achievement, (9) Decreases the academic problems of low achieving students, (10) Reduces sexual harassment among students, (11) Provides more positive student role models, (12) Allows for more opportunities to provide social and moral guidance, (13) Provides choice in public education.
Later studies
Australian researchers reported in 2009 that high school students' interpersonal relationships were positively associated with both academic and nonacademic achievement, although the interaction between boys and girls in a majority of cases resulted in less homework done, less enjoyment of school, and lower reading and math scores.
A UCLA report commissioned by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools used data from an extensive national survey of U.S. college freshmen and found stronger academic orientations among women who had attended all-girls, compared to coeducational high schools, but the effects were minor, and the authors concluded "that the marginal benefits do not justify the potential threats to gender equity brought on by academic sex segregation".
In September 2011, the journal ''Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
'' published a study deeply critical of gender-segregated schooling, arguing that the movement towards single-sex education "is deeply misguided, and often justified by weak, cherry-picked, or misconstrued scientific claims rather than by valid scientific evidence". The study goes on to conclude that "there is no well-designed research showing that single-sex (SS) education improves students' academic performance, but there is evidence that sex segregation
Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their biological sex. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex w ...
increases gender stereotyping and legitimizes institutional sexism."
Leonard Sax
Leonard Sax is an American psychologist and a practicing family physician. He is best known as the author of three books for parents: ''Boys Adrift'', ''Girls on the Edge'', and ''Why Gender Matters''. According to his web site, he is currently ...
, the President of National Association for Single-sex Public Education or NASSPE, countered the ''Science'' article by saying that "ALL the studies cited in the SCIENCE article regarding 'negative impacts' were in fact studies involving a small number of PRE-SCHOOL students attending a COED pre-kindergarten" (capitalized letters in the original). He further said that "these authors provide no evidence for their substantive claim that 'gender divisions are made even more salient in SS settings.' In fact, this conjecture has been tested, and proven false, in multiple studies." Sax cited a study which said that "girls in the all-girls classroom were less aware of 'being a girl' and less aware of gender stereotypes regarding science, compared to girls who were randomly assigned to the coed classroom."
In January 2012, a study of the University of Pennsylvania, involving a randomized experiment
In science, randomized experiments are the experiments that allow the greatest reliability and validity of statistical estimates of treatment effects. Randomization-based inference is especially important in experimental design and in survey sampl ...
, considered the experiment with the highest level of scientific evidence. The data comes from schools in South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, where a law was passed randomly assigning students to schools in their district. The study by Park, Berhman, and Choi titled ''Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools'' concluded that "Attending all-boys schools or all-girls schools rather than attending coeducational schools is significantly associated with higher average scores."
In 2014, E. Pahlke, J. S. Hyde, and C. M. Allison published a meta-analysis in ''Psychological Bulletin'' comparing achievement and attitudes in single-sex versus coeducational schools that included 1.6 million students in grades K-12. The study concluded that "there is little evidence of an advantage of SS schooling for girls or boys for any of the outcomes." In a 2015 review of this study, however Cornelius Riordan observed that the authors "employ a 0.2 effect-size threshold in drawing these conclusions about there being no advantage to single-sex schooling. Despite the above conclusion, the research found that, in a separate analysis of just the best studies (well controlled) conducted in America, the effect size in mathematics was 0.14 for both boys and girls. The verbal performance was 0.22 for girls and 0.13 for boys.... Educational research has shown that a standard effect size of 0.10 on gains from sophomore to senior year of high school is equivalent to one full year of learning by the average public school student in the United States." Thus, he says, that "Applying this standard, a difference of 0.10 (or greater) between students in single-sex and in coeducational schools would be substantially important." The analysis of the 21 other countries yielded much smaller effects, such as a 0.10 effect on mathematics for girls and a 0.06 effect for boys and science (0.06 for girls and 0.04 for boys). Most of the international effects, then, would fall within Riordan's stricter criterion for statistical significance.
In 2017, Christian Dustmann, Hyejin Ku, Do Won Kwak explained that "While teenage boys may be more likely to be distracted than girls by a mixed-gender school environment (Coleman 1961, Hill 2015), girls may suffer more because of, for instance, an increase in disruptive behaviour (as discussed by Figlio 2007), or a diversion of the teacher’s attention to weaker students (as suggested by Lavy et al. 2012).
By region
Australia
In Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, most single sex schools are fee paying independent or Catholic schools. There are a small number of single sex government schools, while within the independent sector the proportion of pupils attending single sex schools has dropped from 31% in 1985 to 24% in 1995. Nevertheless, single sex education in Australia is much more popular than in the US.
In 2001, after six years of study of more than 270,000 students in 53 academic subjects, the Australian Council for Educational Research showed that boys and girls from single-sex classrooms "scored on average 15 to 22 percentile ranks higher than did boys and girls in coeducational settings. The report also documented that boys and girls in single-sex schools were more likely to be better behaved and to find learning more enjoyable and the curriculum more relevant."
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, a large number of government and non-government schools and college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
s are single-sex institutions except for the universities. Notable all Cantonment schools (non-residential schools run directly by Military), Zilla Schools (run directly by Government irst starting in early colonial ages
An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters.
IR ...
, Cadet colleges (residential schools run directly by Military) are single-sex schools.
Conservative parents in Bangladesh tend to send their children to single-sex educational institutions.
Canada
Many single-sex schools exist in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, particularly Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
separate school
In Canada, a separate school is a type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and statutory status in the three territories ( Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut). In these Canadi ...
s. Examples in the City of Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
include: Notre Dame High School, Neil McNeil High School
Neil McNeil Catholic High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Neil McNeil, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from ...
, Chaminade College School
Chaminade College School (CCS, Chaminade) is an all-boys Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
History
Founded by the Archdiocese of Toronto, Chaminade College School opened its doors in September 1965. Initially under the cont ...
, St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School
St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School (locally known as St. Joseph's Morrow Park, SJMPCSS, SJMP, or sporadically Morrow Park) is a publicly funded all-girls secondary school located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by the Sisters of ...
, Madonna Catholic Secondary School, Brebeuf College School
Brebeuf College School (Brebeuf College, BCS, or Brebeuf) is a publicly funded Roman Catholic all-boys high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada endorsed by the Jesuits of Canada. Founded by the Jesuits in 1963, it is part of the Toronto Catholic Di ...
, St. Joseph's College School, Michael Power High School, St. Joseph's High School, Islington, St. Michael's College School
St. Michael's College School, (also known as St. Michael's, St. Mike's, and SMCS), is an independent, Catholic school for young men in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Basilian Fathers, it is the largest school of its kind in Cana ...
and De La Salle College School, Oaklands, Royal St. George's College
Royal St. George's College (RSGC) is an independent school for boys located in The Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school admits boys from Grades 3 through 12. Founded in 1961 as an Anglican choir school in the tradition of t ...
.
France
As was customary in Catholic countries in Europe, girls were educated in convent schools for girls operated by nuns, such as Abbaye de Penthemont
Pentemont Abbey (french: Abbaye de Penthemont, ''Pentemont'', ''Panthemont'' or ''Pantemont'') is a set of 18th and 19th century buildings at the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue de Bellechasse in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The abbey was ...
in Paris. A rare exception was Maison royale de Saint-Louis
The Maison Royale de Saint-Louis was a boarding school for girls set up on 15 June 1686 at Saint-Cyr (what is now the commune of Saint-Cyr-l'École, Yvelines) in France by king Louis XIV at the request of his second wife, Françoise d'Aubigné, Mar ...
, founded by Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ...
in 1684. After the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, it became more common with girls' school
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...
s, often operated by governesses, a famous pioneer school being Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Campan.
France formally included girls in the state elementary education school system in 1836, but girls and boys were only integrated into the lower levels, while the secondary education of girls was entrusted to girls' schools managed by either nuns or governesses, both of whom lacked the necessary qualifications.[William Fortescue: ''The Third Republic in France 1870-1940: Conflicts and Continuities''] When women were formally allowed to attend university in France in 1861, it was hard for them to qualify because of the bad quality of the secondary education. When the problem of unqualified female teachers in the girls' secondary education was addressed by a state teacher's seminary for women and state secondary education for girls, both of these were still gender-segregated. The French school system was not desegregated on the middle secondary education level until the 20th century.
Germany
Germany was a pioneer in the education of girls. Beginning in the 17th-century, schools for girls opened in both Catholic Southern Germany and Protestant Northern Germany. In Catholic Germany, the Catholic Ursuline and Elisabeth sisters established first elementary education schools for poor children and orphans and eventually (before 1750), also a type of secondary education girls' schools for wealthy girls called "daughters institutes", which were essentially finishing schools.[James C. Albisetti: ]
Schooling German Girls and Women
' In Protestant Germany, the great Pietist school innovator August Hermann Francke
August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar.
Biography
Born in Lübeck, Francke was educated at the Illustrious Gymnasium in Gotha before he studie ...
of Halle founded Gynaeceum, the first girls school or 'Mädchenschule' in 1698.
The Gynaeceum was followed by many Pietist girls' schools in Germany, notably the Magdalenenstift in Altenburg and Johann Julius Hecker's Royal Elisabeth School in Berlin in 1747.
In the 18th-century, it became common with so-called ''Töchterschule '' ('daughter school') in German cities, supported by the merchant class who wished for their daughters to be given elementary schooling, as well as girls schools known as ''Mädchenpensionat'', essentially finishing schools for upper-class daughters. In the early 19th-century, secondary education girls schools known as ''höhere Töchterschule'' ('Higher Daughter school') became common: these schools were given government support and became public in many German cities in the second half of the 19th-century and their education adjusted to become equivalents of the secondary education boys' schools. In 1908, women were allowed to attend university, and in the 20th-century, the public secondary education system was integrated.
India
Figures indicate that, as of 2002, 53% of girls in the Indian population actually attend schools. Some conservative parents may decide to withdraw their daughters at puberty onset because of fear of distraction. It is also believed that by having single-sex classrooms, the students will be able to focus more on their education, as they will not have the distraction of the other sex. The study argues that coeducation schools provide opportunities for students to interact with their peers, which de-stresses students and creates a friendlier, more relaxed environment.
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
has significantly more pupils studying in single-sex schools than other western countries: more than one-third of second-level schools are single-sex. Single-sex education is less common at the primary level than at the secondary level: 17% of primary school children attend single-sex schools.
Middle East
In the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, public schools in several countries are all gender-segregated. In some countries, there are single-sex private schools as well. In Iran, single-sex public and private schools have been in place since the Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
. Universities are mostly coeducational in Iran. University of Kosar (Bojnourd, Iran) and Narjes Rafsanjan University (Rafsanjan, Iran) are two examples of female-only universities.
Private schools are primarily coeducational in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, while public schools are segregated.
In Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, private schools are coeducational, while public schools are mostly, but not exclusively, segregated. Universities are all coeducational.
In Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, secular public schools are coeducational. Many, but not all, Orthodox public schools are single-sex; the private ultra-Orthodox schools are almost always gender-segregated, usually starting in elementary school.
In Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, most schools are co-educational schools.
New Zealand
In New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, almost all primary schools are coeducational (1,935 co-ed, 7 boys-only, 4 girls-only), while there are more examples of single-sex secondary schools. There are 45 boys-only secondary schools, 53 girls-only secondary schools and 274 mixed secondary schools .
During the mid-20th century, several state coeducational secondary schools split into two single-sex schools, with one school moving to a new site, to alleviate overcrowding. These included Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
(1955), Gisborne (1956), Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
(1956), Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
(1958), Rotorua
Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...
(1959), Westlake (1962), Kelston
Kelston is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, north west of Bath, and east of Bristol, on the A431 road. It is situated just north of the River Avon, close to the Kelston and Saltford locks. The parish has a population of 248.
...
(1963), and Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
(1963).
Nigeria
In Nigeria, public opinion regarding sexes in schools is influenced most by religious and cultural beliefs rather than the idea that students learn better separated into sexes. Because of this, the attitude towards the separation/integration of sexes varies depending on the ethnic makeup of the region. People in northern Nigeria are primarily Muslim and, as a result, are more inclined to choose single-sex education over coeducation in line with their religious beliefs. However, country-wide, coeducation schools are more common than single-sex schools.
In contrast to the predominance of coeducation schools, many prestigious educational institutions only accept one sex; notable examples include King's College and Queen's College situated in Lagos. Although the sexes are not separated in the classroom at the university level, it is common practice to employ a single-sex housing policy on university campuses, e.g., Covenant University
Covenant may refer to:
Religion
* Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general
** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible
** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...
.
Pakistan
The education system in Pakistan is generally divided into six levels: preschool (for the age from 3 to 5 years), primary (grades one through five), middle (grades six through eight), high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC), intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate or HSSC), and university programs leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees. Most of the private schools in major cities like Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
, Faisalabad
Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...
, Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
, Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
and Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
have co-education systems but all public schools adhere single-sex education. In some cities, single-sex education is preferred, like Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
and Quetta
Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...
, where many schools are single-sex educational. However, there are also schools in the urban areas which are coeducational. Most colleges are also single-sex education institutions till graduation, but many private and public sector universities have coeducation systems. There are some women's universities in Peshawar and Rawalpindi as well. However, most of the higher education in Pakistan is coeducation.
Sweden
Around 1800, girls' middle-secondary schools begun to appear, and become more common during the 19th century. By the mid 1970s, most of them had been scrapped and replaced with coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
.
By law from the 1570s (Swedish Church Ordinance 1571 The Swedish Church Ordinance of 1571 was the first complete Swedish church order following the Swedish Reformation in the 1520s.
The main originator of the ordinance was archbishop Laurentius Petri. Petri, archbishop since 1531, had published many ...
), girls, as well as boys, were expected to be given elementary schooling. The establishment for girls' schools was left to each city's authorities, and no school for girls was founded until the Rudbeckii flickskola in 1632, and that school was an isolated example. However, schools for boys did accept female students at the lowest levels and occasionally even at high levels: Ursula Agricola and Maria Jonae Palmgren Maria Jonae Palmgren (1630, Gränna - before 28 May 1708) was a Swedish female scholar.
In 1645, she was accepted as a student at the Visingsö college of Count Brahe. Alongside her fellow student, the German Ursula Agricola from Strassburg, who w ...
were accepted at Visingsö Gymnasium in 1644 and 1645 respectively, and Aurora Liljenroth
Clara ''Aurora'' Liljenroth (7 June 1772 – 28 February 1836), also incorrectly referred to as ''Charlotta Liljeroth'', was a Swedish scholar. She was one of few contemporary women to have attended and graduated from the gymnasium (1788) befo ...
graduated from the same school in 1788.
During the 18th century, many girls' schools were established, referred to as ('Mamsell (from the French ) was a historical Swedish honorific used for unmarried women from about the mid 18th-century until 1866. The title was primarily used for women in the burgher and the clergy classes. The word was replaced after the middle of the ...
school') or ('French pension').Gunhild Kyle
Gunhild Kyle (28 August 1921 – 14 February 2016) was a Swedish historian.Sweden's population 1970, CD-ROM, Version 1.04, Swedish Family Research Association (2002). She was Sweden's first professor of women's history at the University of Gothenbu ...
(1972). Svensk flickskola under 1800-talet. Göteborg: Kvinnohistoriskt arkiv. ISBN These schools could normally be classified as finishing school
A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wit ...
s, with only a shallow education of polite conversation in French, embroidery, piano playing, and other accomplishments, and the purpose was only to give the students a proper minimum education to be a lady, a wife, and a mother.
In the first half of the 19th century, growing discontent over the shallow education of women eventually resulted in the finishing schools being gradually replaced by girls' schools with a higher level of academic secondary education, called "Higher Girl Schools", in the mid-19th century. At the time of the introduction of the compulsory elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
for both sexes in Sweden in 1842, only five schools in Sweden provided academic secondary education to females: the Societetsskolan Societetsskolan i Göteborg för döttrar ('Society School for Daughters in Gothenburg') or simply ''Societetsskolan'' ('Society School'), was a Swedish girls' school managed by the congregation of the Moravian Church in Gothenburg from 1 November ...
(1786), Fruntimmersföreningens flickskola Fruntimmerföreningens flickskola ('Women's Society's Girls' School'), was a Girls' School in Gothenburg in Sweden active between 1815 and 1938. At the time of the introduction of compulsory elementary schools in Sweden in 1842, it was one of fi ...
(1815) and Kjellbergska flickskolan
Kjellbergska flickskolan ('Kjellberg Girls' School') was a Girls' School in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was active between 1835 and 1967.
History
The school was founded by a fund granted in the will of the wealthy merchant Jonas Kjellberg (1752– ...
(1833) in Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, Askersunds flickskola
Askersunds flickskola (Askersund Girls' School), was a Swedish girls' school in Askersund, active from 1812 until 1906. It was the second school in Sweden to offer secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phas ...
(1812) in Askersund
Askersund is a locality and the seat of Askersund Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with a population census of 3,887 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
Askersund is a popular tourist destination with swimming and nature experiences. The city c ...
, and Wallinska skolan
Wallinska skolan (Wallin School) or Wallinska flickskolan (Wallin Girls' School), was a girls' school in Stockholm, Sweden. Active from 1831 to 1939, it was one of the first five schools in Sweden to offer serious academic education and seconda ...
(1831) in Stockholm.
During the second half of the 19th century, secondary education girl schools were in most Swedish cities. All of these were private, except the women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
''Högre lärarinneseminariet
The Royal Seminary, fully the Royal Advanced Female Teachers' Seminary ( sv, Kungliga Högre Lärarinneseminariet, abbreviated KHLS), was a normal school (teachers' college) in Stockholm, Sweden. It was active from 1861 until 1943. It was the fi ...
'' in Stockholm from 1861, and its adjacent girls' school ''Statens normalskola för flickor''. The Girls' School Committee of 1866
The Flickskolekommittén 1866 (Girls' School Committee of 1866), was a Swedish governmental committee established by the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, in 1866 to examine organization of female education in Sweden and produce suggestions of refo ...
organized the regulation of girls' schools and female education in Sweden: from 1870, some girls' schools were given the right to offer the gymnasium (school) level to their students, and from 1874, those girls' schools which met the demands were given governmental support, and some were given the right to administer the school-leaving exam. This was necessary to make it possible for women to enroll at the universities, which had been opened to women in 1870, as female students were not accepted in the same middle schools as male students.
Between 1904 and 1909, girls were integrated with state boys' schools on the secondary levels, making it possible for girls to complete their elementary- and middle-level education in a state school instead of going to an expensive private girls' school. Finally, in 1927, all state secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
s for boys were integrated, and the private girls' schools started to be transformed into coeducational schools, a process which was completed by 1970.
United Kingdom
While England has a very strong tradition of single-sex education, Scottish education was largely mixed, and Wales introduced dual schools (a girls' side and a boys' side under one roof) in 1889. In England, most secondary education was single-sex until the 1970s.
Single-sex schooling was traditionally the norm for secondary schools in most parts of the United Kingdom, especially for private, grammar and secondary modern schools, but most UK schools are now coeducational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
. In the state sector of the U.K. education system very few single sex schools remain. The number of single-sex state schools has fallen from nearly 2,500 to just over 400 in 40 years. According to Alan Smithers
Prof Alan George Smithers (born 20 May 1938) is an English educationalist.
Early life
Smithers was born in the East End of London, the son of a Billingsgate fish porter.Rafferty, R. (22 January 1999). 'Leaders of the pack', ''Times Educational ...
, Professor of Education at Buckingham University
, mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings
, established = 1973; as university college1983; as university
, type = Private
, endowment =
, administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support
, chanc ...
, there was no evidence that single-sex schools were consistently superior. A major longitudinal study of over 17,000 individuals examined whether single-sex schooling made a difference for a wide range of outcomes, including academic attainment, earnings, marriage, childbearing and divorce. The authors found that girls fared better in examinations at age 16 at single-sex schools, while boys achieved similar results at single-sex or co-educational schools. Girls rated their abilities in maths and sciences higher if they went to a girls' school, and boys rated their abilities in English higher if they went to a boys' school, i.e. gender stereotyping was weaker in the single-sex sector. Later in life, women who had been to single-sex schools went on to earn higher wages than women who had been to co-educational schools.
United States
Until the 19th century, single-sex education was the norm in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, although this varied by region. In New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, there was more mixed-sex education than in the South, and girls in New England had more access to education in general. Mixed-sex education started to spread rapidly with the generalization of elementary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or firs ...
in the 19th century. According to Cornelius Riordan, "By the end of the nineteenth century, coeducation was all but universal in American elementary and secondary public schools (see Kolesnick, 1969; Bureau of Education, 1883; Butler, 1910; Riordan, 1990). However, higher education was usually single-sex, and men's college
In higher education, a men's college is an undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institution whose students are exclusively men. Many are liberal arts colleges.
Around the world In North America United States
In the United States, co-educ ...
s and women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
s were common well into the 20th century. A form of education strongly associated with sex-segregation is Catholic schools
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syst ...
, although many Catholic schools today are coeducational. The idea of educating students differently by sex, formally or informally, was common until the 1970s.
A controversy regarding single-sex education in the United States is its association with racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
ideologies in the 1950s in the American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. After the ''Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'' (1954) ruled racial segregation in education unconstitutional, therefore paving the way to educating together black and white children, many conservatives reacted very negatively to the idea of black boys and white girls socializing together, potentially leading to interracial romantic couples. As such, segregation by sex in schools became quite common during that era across the Southern US, with many single-sex educational institutions being established.
A major event that affected single-sex schooling in the US was when the Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
amendments of the Education Amendments of 1972
The Education Amendments of 1972, also sometimes known as the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 (Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235), were U.S. legislation enacted on June 23, 1972. It is best known for its Title IX, which prohibited disc ...
were passed. The Encyclopedia of Women and Gender explains Title IX as being "Founded on the premises of equal opportunity, equal access, and full integration, it focused on providing complete access to participation in all functions of schooling, regardless of gender" (Sex Segregation In Education, 2001). Many feminists fought for the passage of this law. The goal was to ban all sex discrimination in any education program which received financial aid from the government. It was stated specifically on the Department of Education website as, "No person in the US, on the basis of sex, can be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance".
The leading cause which led to the start of more public schools having single-sex classes or entire schools was when the reforms to the Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
of the Education Amendments of 1972
The Education Amendments of 1972, also sometimes known as the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 (Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235), were U.S. legislation enacted on June 23, 1972. It is best known for its Title IX, which prohibited disc ...
were passed in 2006. Initially, Title IX had allowed the separation of males and females in certain areas in school before the new changes. For example, they were allowed to have single-gender classes for physical education when contact sports were involved and sex-education classes. Kasic (2008) indicates that the new regulations allow nonvocational public schools to receive funding if they offer single-sex classes or entire single-sex schools, but to start these programs, they have to have a governmental or educational objective. These programs must also be voluntary, so public schools cannot be required to offer these single-sex programs. If they do, they cannot force students to participate in them. Diana Schemo explain
in a New York Times article
"Until now, public school districts that offered a school to one sex generally had to provide a comparable school for students of the other sex. However, the new rules say districts can offer such students the option to attend comparable coeducational schools" (Schemo, 2006, p. 2). Since these regulations were approved, the number of public schools offering single-sex programs has been steadily increasing because the rules are more flexible.
In the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of single-sex public education in the 1996 case of ''United States v. Virginia
''United States v. Virginia'', 518 U.S. 515 (1996), is a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the long-standing male-only admission policy of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in a 7–1 decision. Justice ...
''. This ruling, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...
, concluded that single-sex education in the public sector is constitutional only if comparable courses, services, and facilities are made available to both sexes. The No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
contains provisions (sections 5131.a.23. and 5131c, 20 U.S.C. section 7215(a)(23), and section 7215(c)) designed by their authors—senators Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
( D- NY) and Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republi ...
( R- TX)—to facilitate single-sex education in public schools. These provisions led to the publication of new federal rules in October 2006 to allow districts to create single-sex schools and classes provided that 1) enrollment is voluntary and 2) comparable courses, services, and facilities are available to both sexes. The number of public schools offering single-sex classrooms rose from 4 in 1998 to 540 in 2010, according to the web site of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education.
Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University sponsored a nationwide survey conducted by Knowledge Networks in early 2008. According to the survey, "more than one-third of Americans feel parents should have the option of sending their child to a single-sex school".
Gender segregation in American history
In the United States, gender segregation in schools was initially a product of an era when traditional gender roles categorically determined scholastic, professional, and social opportunities based on sex. For instance, leading experts supported gender segregation in higher education because they considered it "to be dangerous and inappropriate for women. Experts claimed that scientific evidence established that women were physically and temperamentally not suited to the rigors of the academy . ... Separate education for men and women paralleled the separate spheres that each was expected to occupy." Furthermore, colleges and universities did not consider female applicants until the second half of the nineteenth century, when the women's rights movement began advocating for gender equality. In response to social progression, "at the turn of the twentieth century, educators, particularly those in the South, fiercely resisted coeducation in elite all-male colleges, and most of the Ivy League institutions would drag their feet well into the twentieth century before becoming coeducational."
Importance of history and culture in single-sex education determinations
Girls and boys segregation in schools is definitive of a sex-based classification, and, thus, it must be supported by an "exceedingly persuasive justification" to pass constitutional muster. In light of this requisite standard, the legality of single-sex educational institutions depends on the accuracy of underlying assumptions and support. Accordingly, it is important to be aware that most research used to advocate the benefits of single-sex education is cloaked in uncertainty. Specifically, proponents "who want to build a case for single-sex education usually draw on ... uncontrolled studies, small samples, and anecdotal evidence; the positive findings are repeated but are not analyzed". Alternatively, opponents of single-sex education can gather tangible support from observable patterns of pervasive gender inequality in other social contexts.
The diversity of opinions that concurrently support gender segregation in education creates a complex and fragmented dynamic. The miscellany of proponents includes: conservatives emphasizing innate gender differences, traditionalists favoring rigid gender roles, democrats striving to remedy past discrimination, progressives promoting diversity in academic choices, and feminists championing exclusively female support systems. Because the coalition of proponents consists of parties with different interests, the body of "educational research regarding the efficacy of single-sex schools is mixed at best". Moreover, advocates tend to bolster their respective positions by emphasizing specific aspects of educational research without addressing the remaining "array of evidence regarding institutions, structures, and processes that construct views on gender and equality".[''Id.''] Although educational research supporting gender segregation in schools is rife with ambiguity, "the social research is absolutely clear that separation on the basis of identity characteristics creates feelings of individual inadequacy and instills beliefs about group hierarchy".
Studies used to make policy or legal arguments in the current debate over single-sex education narrowly "look only at the slice of the social picture that schooling represents". An informed assessment regarding the appropriate role of gender segregation in contemporary and future education developments requires contemplation of potential implications beyond the direct, internal, and immediate influences that single-sex schools stand to exert on students. It is undeniable that gender inequality exists, consciously or not, in contemporary social, professional, and domestic hierarchies or relationships. Indeed, " nder separatism is so pervasive that it is almost invisible. It is woven into the fabric of our daily social routines." Vestiges of past gender segregation and its connotations throughout American history validate questions concerning the likely effects of contemporary institutions of single-sex education on prevailing gender.
Impact on female citizens' civil rights
Assessing the current single-sex education debate through a broad lens realizes contextual factors that effectively constitute the crux of the issue. Most discussions regarding the potential effects of single-sex education characterize future students of such institutions as the sole beneficiaries of resulting impacts. However, an appropriate assessment considers contextual implications and realizes that female citizens as a class will be the true beneficiaries if single-sex education developments reach fruition.
If the multitude of diverging interests that influence the single-sex education dispute was distilled, the core concern of the discussion asks whether single-sex education will help remedy past gender discrimination or not. In sum, ender
Ender may refer to:
Given name
* Ender Alkan, Turkish footballer
* Ender Arslan, Turkish basketball player
* Ender Inciarte, Venezuelan baseball player
* Ender Konca, Turkish footballer
Surname
* Erika Ender (born 1974), Panamanian singer, s ...
separatism originated in beliefs about innate differences between women and men in inclinations and abilities, sentiments that comported with 'widely held views about women's proper place.' The existence of segregated higher education was itself, for centuries, a critical factor in the limitation of women's professional opportunities.
The implications of reviving single-sex education in America could further erode outdated sex stereotypes and, thereby, facilitate gender equality in other social contexts. Incorporating the national history of gender segregation allows all sides to balance the hypothetical benefits of future students against the potential regression of gender equality in America.[''Id.'' "In determining whether sex-exclusive education will remedy existing educational disparities for girls or will aggravate a system of sex-role stereotyping, courts must consider the historical and social meaning of sex segregation in American education." ''Id.'']
See also
*Men's colleges
In higher education, a men's college is an undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institution whose students are exclusively men. Many are liberal arts colleges.
Around the world In North America United States
In the United States, co-educ ...
*Women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
s
*Lists of boys' schools
Here are lists of Single-sex education (schools which only admit Boys, or those which only admit boys at certain levels/years/grades), or those which follow the Diamond Schools model (separating students by gender at points), by country.
Australia ...
*Lists of girls' schools
Here are lists of schools which only admit girls, or those which only admit girls at certain levels/years/grades, or those which separate students by gender at certain points (such as the Diamond Schools model), by country.
Antigua and Barbuda
* ...
References
Other readings
Single-sex Schools for Girls and Gender Equality, UNESCO Brief, 2007
Single sex environments and gender differences in risk aversion
External links
European Association of Single-sex Education (EASSE)
National Association for single sex public education
Single Sex Education
American Council for CoEducational Schooling (ACCES)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Single-Sex Education
Gender and education
Sex segregation