Benefits of Single Sex School
Single sex school, otherwise known as single-sex education can be defined as the practice of carrying out education where the female and the male students are in separate classes, buildings or even schools. It is where the school administration concentrates on teaching males and females separately despite the similarity in the syllabus. Single sex schools were common in the past, especially before the nineteenth century. Most secondary schools and higher education schools practiced single sex education. Most cultures advocate for single-sex education due to their traditional beliefs and religion hence adopting it in many different parts of the world. Many parents and guardians have been in a dilemma on whether to admit their students in single sex schools. Others have had a difficulty in establishing whether single sex schools offer better results than the co-ed schools. However, despite the many challenges that arise with the choice of single sex schools such as lack of the real world experience in communication between the males and females, and lack of enough exposure, there are several benefits to it. Single sex schools offer an environment for better performance, personal growth, and effective social development, reduction of achievement gaps, improved behavior, and better career exposure especially for the females.
Having been introduced before the nineteenth century, single sex schools have been in existence for long not only in the US but throughout the world. In the earlier day, parents easily embraced the idea of taking their children to single sex schools by reason of religion and traditional beliefs (Grossman, 2002). It was believed that students who went through single sex schools were less likely to be involved in sexual matters hence a reduction in early pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted diseases. However, today, there are many benefits that come with single sex schools.
First, single sex schools offer conducive environment for better performance for the students. According to proponents of single sex schools, a comparison between co-ed schools and single sex schools reveals that single-sex education improves the performance of students. The single sex school environment provides an allowance for better match in terms of the teaching and learning process. Having separate classes for males and females help in reducing the achievement gaps that has always been between the two genders. For instance, girls in single-sex education system are viewed to perform better in the “hard” subjects such as mathematics and sciences. This is due to the fact that the environment offers them the opportunity to maximize their potential without any forms of intimidation from the male who tend to be better in these subjects.
According to long-term studies conducted on children around the world, students in single-sex schools tend to perform much better than the ones in co-ed schools. Study conducted in 270,000 students in Australia revealed that both boys and girls were able to perform higher in a highly significant way on the standardized tests after attending the gender-specific schools. Earlier on, an experiment conducted in Virginia in 1995 on the eighth graders revealed that after the separation of females and males in a mathematics class, the girls were able to achieve better results than before. Most of them had increased confidence and were better participants in class than before. Study conducted on British students in 2001 revealed that almost all girls regardless of their socioeconomic status were better performers in single sex classrooms in comparison to the co-ed one (Ingrid, 37). Additionally, boys who were at their lowest levels of performance reflected greater levels of academic improvement in single sex schools. In Britain, the schools that are ranked as the top fifty in the elementary level as well as the one ranked at the top in high schools are majorly single sex schools.
Single sex schools open up career opportunities for different genders in the market world. Due to equal representation of the genders in the career world, none of them becomes underrepresented. The males also get an opportunity to be treated in a better way in single sex schools than in co-ed schools (Kim and Rodolfo, 667). It is evident that females, in most cases, tend to be overprotected in the co-ed schools while males tend to be favored more than the females. In single-sex schools, such incidences are thoroughly dealt with and none of the students faces any kind of special treatment hence offering them equal opportunities to work hard and achieve the best performance.
Single sex schools offer an environment for personal growth for both the females and males. According to research, single sex schools give an opportunity for both the females and males to take personal initiative of meeting challenges without fear. As mentioned earlier, in most cases, teachers in co-ed schools get caught up in over protecting the females and favoring the males. In single sex schools, this is not bound to happen since every individual has an equal share of challenges that he or she should handle (Gurian and Kathy, 2007). Additionally, students in single sex schools face healthy competition from their counterpart hence enabling them to grow out of the fear that comes with competition from the opposite sex. Students tend to build personal confidence hence increasing their ability to be competitive in the career world despite the challenges that exist. In single sex schools, all students are given an equal opportunity to assume the existing leadership roles. Unlike the co-ed schools, these opportunities are exposed to every individual in equal measure.
The male-female stereotype culture is effectively dealt with in single sex schools since both sexes in their schools are able to pursue activities that may appear “masculine” for the females or too “feminine” for the males. Every student is exposed to an equal share of the school challenges. In both all-girls and all-boys’ schools, students are exposed to both female and male adult role models respectively. None of the schools advocates for male favoritism or increased expectations in the girls to be softer, quiet, passive and less successful in their academics. Additionally, in all-girls schools, teachers adapt the latest techniques in maintaining pace with the learning styles of females. Non-biased text books are used due to the lack of males in the school. Additionally, girls in such schools have the ability to participate more in the class discussions since they do not face intimidation from the boys like in the co-educational schools. In such schools, girls build self confidence hence earning higher scores in their examinations.
In the United States as well as all over the world, it is viewed that single sex schools promote good behavior among the students, especially them in the adolescence stage. In the co-educational school settings, academics may not be the main priority. For such adolescents, single sex schools or classes may be the best option for them. Research reveals that single-sex education ensures that the attitude of the students is increased hence the maximization of student achievement (Kim and Rodolfo, 652). In co-educational schools, boys and girls easily distract one another. Some of them develop bad behavior in the process of trying to discover the characteristics of the opposite sex (Grön et al, 405). In addition, some of them work hard to impress each other instead of focusing on their studies hence attaining poor results. It is beneficial to separate boys and girls during schooling since it works well to eliminate the worries of creating an impressing the students of the opposite sex. Students in the coeducational environment set up are often thought to be distracted by how they appear before the opposite sex rather than concentrating on how they perform in their academics.
Improved behavior in the single sex schools is also characterized by an increased participation in school. Both boys and girls in their own unique ways perform well in environments that are free from inhibiting factors that may arise as a result of the company of the opposite sex. In the single-sex schools, both boys and girls are free to participate in any given activities without feeling fearful or uncomfortable due to the presence of the opposite sex (Marsh et al, 260). All of them participate in the different facets of the academic and non-academic activities. For instance, girls feel free to seek for help in the presence of other girls without the fear of insecurity. Most of them develop confidence in discussions and are able to freely and effectively express themselves.
Study conducted on girls who took physics in a coeducational set up revealed that very few girls admitted their areas of weakness. On the other hand, in the single sex schools most of the girls stood out to admit their weaknesses hence improving their results. The single sex schools offered them the opportunity to repeatedly ask the questions that bothered them hence offering them a better opportunity for group learning and improved achievement (Kim and Rodolfo, 650). In the coeducational physics class, approximately 14% of the girls succeeded in getting “A’s”, 14% achieved a “B” while the majority, 71% achieved a “C”. On the other hand, for the students in single sex schools, approximately 88% of the girls achieved an “A” while 12% got a “B”. This clearly indicates that girls tend to benefit more in a single sex schools set up as compared to the coeducational school set up.
Typically, boys often lead in the coeducational school set up. In most cases, boys always participate in the leadership roles as well as in most of the co-curricular activities that involve their emotions (Ingrid, 37). Areas such as in fine arts; drama and music, more boys than girls are attracted to them hence increasing their participation. It is evident that boys become more supportive in such areas and less gigglers than the girls. Most of them are able to work in the collaborative settings especially when they are separated from the girls since they get a free opportunity to express their inbuilt emotions. In the single sex schools, where there are no girls to ridicule the boys who participate various activities such as theatre and arts, boys tend to perform excellently. Most of them are able to go out of their way to experiment with different roles in arts and theatre hence achieving the best in their participation. Single sex schools ensure that students’ behavior is improved in terms of participation, distractions, and attendance ensuring an improvement in the achievement of students.
Despite the many benefits that arise with single sex schools, opponents, on the other hand, argue that most students are not well prepared to face the real life. This, they claim is due to their inability to interact freely with the opposite sexes. The opponents of this methodology also claim that students find transitions to co-educational environments in the future difficult (Marsh et al, 239). Additionally, single sex schools tend to place much emphasis on academics rather than the development of a “whole child”. Seemingly, single-sex schools minimize intrinsic motivation and creative expression amongst students. However, the benefits of single sex education tend to be more than the disadvantages. Single sex schools offer an opportunity for students to perform better in class. Most students are able to freely express themselves without the fear of intimidation from the opposite sexes. Girls, in such a set up, are able to freely express themselves in the company of fellow girls than with boys. In addition, single sex schools provide a conducive environment for improved behavior. Students do not have the time to work hard to impress their opposite sexes, especially the ones in their adolescence stage. Most of them are buried in their books and academic activities. Single sex schools offer equal opportunities for both males and females. All of them face and tackle similar challenges. Teachers do not have the chance to favor boys or over protect the girls. Finally, girls have the equal opportunity to exercise leadership roles in the schools.
Works Cited
Grön, Georg, et al. “Brain activation during human navigation: gender-different neural networks as a substrate of performance.” Nature Neuroscience 3.4 (2000): 404-408.
Grossman, J. “The Bush administration’s push for single-sex education: An attempt to erode federal gender equality guarantees.” Retrieved September 12 (2002): 2002.
Gurian, Michael, and Kathy Stevens. “With boys and girls in mind.” (2007).
Ingrid Sturgis. “Just Us, Chronicle of Higher Education. Convergence: Diversity & Inclusion.” (2013). p36-39. 4p
Kim, Mikyong, and Rodolfo Alvarez. “Women-only Colleges: Some unanticipated consequences.” The Journal of Higher Education (1995): 641-668.
Marsh, Herbert W., et al. “The transition from single-sex to coeducational high schools: Effects on multiple dimensions of self-concept and academic achievement.” American Educational Research Journal 25.2 (1988): 237-269.