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Original poster

single sex schools

103 replies

MarieDeGournay · 12/05/2024 19:29

Girls do better in exams at all-girls schools than mixed, research finds | Schools | The Guardian
I remember research showing that was true some time ago, then it was debunked, now it's back againSmile
As a product of all-girl schools, I've always believed it was very beneficial. Given that I was gender-non-conforming to the point of dysphoria, that might sound strange, and I did feel a huge disconnect with my classmates; but if I'd been in a mixed school I'd have been drawn towards the boy-side, whereas in an all-girls' school, I just had to work out a way to be a different kind of girl.
And I had the female teachers - even the science teachers - as role models. I wouldn't have worked things out as well in a mixed school, I think.

That's not even mentioning the shocking rate of sexual harassment of girls in mixed schools.

Here in Ireland, single-sex schools are disappearing in a blaze of 'aren't we wonderfully progressive?' but I think it may be one more thing we wish we'd held on to. Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Sunny678 · 12/05/2024 20:09

I wrote a dissertation on this and yes it's true! The main takeaways were:

  1. Both boys and girls perform better in single sex schools
  2. Boys need girls in school to regulate their behaviour
  3. Boys from single sex schools are more likely to divorce in future and have issues with relationships, self esteem and mental health problems
  4. Girls thrive in the absence of boys emotionally and socially. There is less pressure to adhere to beauty standards, eating disorders are less prevalent and girls have higher self esteem
  5. Girls from single sex schools are more likely to pursue powerful jobs and roles in STEM

Essentially, boys need girls but boys' presence in school is detrimental to girls.

I'd always recommend anyone with a daughter to send them to a single-sex school and anyone with a son to send them to a co-ed school

Precipice · 12/05/2024 20:01

I don't think it's only Ireland. The last (not-private?) girls' only school in Scotland accepted boys in 2019 (Notre Dame).

In England, I'm aware of a few single-sex schools, but the ones around here have co-ed Sixth Forms (with the majority of the sixth formers being pupils of the same sex as the general school intake, since most stay on at the same school).

I went to a single-sex school and I think it was a positive experience. There was still some harassment, though not boy-on-girl. We had some boys in the sixth form (as above), though some classes you still got only female classmates.

RebelliousCow · 12/05/2024 19:50

Ireland seems to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater in its bid to reject, and oppose, its history of Catholicism and clerical abuse.

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