An Analysis of the Consequences of Single Sex Education

The long-standing debate over the success of single-sex schooling has again become a current topic for many debates.

The debate over the validity of single-sex education has been sanitized with advice from so-called educational experts and the results of a number of scientific, albeit somewhat empirical studies, on the benefits of such an educational model. However, the creation of such a system was never intended to improve a student’s academic success or contentment; rather, the segregation was a cultural mandate developed at a time when sexual segregation was considered entirely natural.

The introduction and enforcement of single-sex education dates back to the first appearance of a woman’s right to education–a notion long resisted by the Christian church.

Only in recent times has the church softened its hard-line doctrine on coeducation. This change in stance is due to the pragmatic and financial considerations of the church administration. Today’s economic environment has hastened the church to review its stance on sexual integration. As a direct result, the Catholic Church has restructured half of its previously segregated schools to sustain future profitability.

In spite of the ostensibly archaic, fanatical, and outdated reasoning behind the formation of such a model of education, the push for further establishment of single-sex learning environments persists. Why are world leaders even considering conservative educational groups’ solicitations for this model? These arguments seem appealing and promising in the beginning.

Though it is generally accepted that single-sex learning environments may have the potential to improve the performance of certain at-risk or less socially developed students, one must bear in mind that segregation is by no means the panacea for our educational woes; in fact, it may be quite the opposite!

There may not be a consensus among psychologists on the benefits of single-sex education. However, all would agree that the separation of the sexes reinforces outdated notions of difference and divergences between genders. For a small group of students, a single-sex environment may provide some immediate solutions for the problems they encounter in their school environment. Importantly, this educational method only offers temporary fixes for these issues.

A single-sex environment removes the distraction of the opposite sex from the learning equation, but introduces the hindering notion of the difference and incompatibility of the sexes in its place.

While such a system supposedly aids students struggling in a mixed-sex environment, this segregation often exacerbates the situation by preventing students from overcoming these barriers.

Students at segregated schools develop social understanding and conditioning that conflict with modern society. Although segregation may provide a safe or comfortable space for some small and specific populations, it generates serious tension for gender equity—an alarming realization.

Students in a non-segregated setting learn to handle conflicts, friendships and working relationships between the sexes. They are thereby prepared to live successfully and happily in a mixed-sex society. Most importantly, they gain respect for sexual differences. This understanding not only facilitates success in the workplace but is also an invaluable skill for achieving social cohesion.

Society has been fighting to remove the debilitating barriers dividing the sexes. It seems as if this old adversary has raised its head in the newfound conservative push for educational segregation. Educational segregation is a system which trains and conditions students, from their earliest and most impressionable years, to hold true to values that years of social progress have fought diligently to overcome.

The real-world evidence, which contradicts the benefits of segregation, is forever mounting as society becomes conscious of the importance of establishing a healthy psychological balance in society’s youth. A large number of public schools in California, which post-deregulation have experimented with single-sex education, have nearly all been shut down or reverted back to a co-educational model. A study found some limited benefits to the academic success of some students, but quickly identified that the education they were provided failed to offer an adequate gender-based social education, which was deemed highly dangerous and inappropriate.

The more forward-thinking educators and researchers argue that the academic success of both boys and girls is influenced nearly entirely by small classes, strong curricula, dedicated teachers and equitable teaching practices, and has very little to do with single-sex settings. We should not be looking towards a quick fix segregation of the sexes to improve academic results. Rather, it is the improvement in quality, academic and more importantly, social education which will set students in good stead for life in the community.

As a society, we must question what level of educational segregation we deem as tolerable while still aiming to maintain our community’s ideals. I don’t believe it’s safe or logical to permit any.

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