Single-sex education: setting students up or holding them back?

As the 2019 school year at Saint Louis University began, Grace Hoover walked into her first class and immediately began blushing and avoiding eye contact with her classmates at all costs, specifically those of the male species. The semester continued on, and it felt as if her cheeks constantly remained flush and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered any time she had to attend a coeducational class.

This was Hoover’s first semester in a classroom with boys in four years. Hoover attended Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska, a Catholic, college-preparatory high school for girls.

“It was actually very hard socially when it came to fitting in to no longer single-sex classroom because it had been a long time, and my formative years were spent in a single-sex classroom so having to relearn was a bit of an adjustment,” said Hoover.

Grace Hoover's uniform skirt lays next to her Saint Louis University shirt. Hoover feels that attending an all girls school might have impacted her experience at SLU.

Gu Li and Wang Ivy Wong, researchers from NYU Shanghai and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, respectively, said single sex schooling is one of the most controversial subjects in developmental and educational research. In the United States, popularity in single-sex education has been on the rise after the U.S. Department of Education decided to allow single-sex education in public schools.

“Many proponents of single-sex education believe that separating boys and girls increases students’ achievement and academic interest,” according to the American Psychological Association. These supporters claim two separate reasons for advocating for single-sex education. The first being that there are gender differences in the psychological characteristics of learning that are biological in nature. Proponents of single-sex education desire a single-sex educational environment that can address and target the biological differences.

The second view advocates for single-sex education hold is that single-sex education highlights sexism within coeducational classrooms and the negative effects it can have.

“The ‘girl power’ view of these proponents, cites the problem of domineering boys in coeducational classrooms as a reason for separating boys and girls. In coeducational classrooms, boys tend to seek out and receive the majority of teacher’s attention. Single-sex classrooms give the opportunity for girls to become empowered and confident in the classroom,” Li and Wong said.

Hoover experienced this argument frequently throughout her four years at an all girls school.

“I was able to focus solely on my education and never had to fear about boys judging me in the classroom. It enriched my experience because I was able to focus on my work and prepare for advancing my education,” Hoover said.

Teresa Hughes, a Ph.D. student from Prairie View A&M University, looked into the academic benefits of participating in a single-sex educational environment. Test scores and attendance levels rise while disciplinary problems fall, Hughes said. There are more positive attitudes. Hughes also said that a single-sex environment allows for the priority to be on academics rather than socialization.

Marco Orendain agreed with Hughes’ claims about attending a single-sex high school. Orendain attended Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas in Dallas, Texas, or simply Jesuit, as Orendain referred to his alma mater.

“I was definitely allowed to concentrate on myself in the classroom more,” Orendain said, “During my senior year, I had a conversation with a counselor and he mentioned that the schedule was specifically catered to boy’s decreased attention span compared to girls. Having shortened class periods allowed me to engage more in the classroom and work more efficiently.”

Both Hoover and Orendain attended high schools that were sponsored by religious organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church. Hoover’s high school is run by the Religious of the Sacred Heart and Orendain’s high school is run by the Society of Jesus.

According to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, the Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental provider of higher education.

In the St. Louis area alone, there are around 25 Catholic high schools, according to niche.com.

Catholic education holds a pivotal role in the perpetuation of single-sex higher education. Many religious groups created educational institutes when first coming to America, and some of these schools are now the oldest educational institutions in the country. As these schools were founded, they resisted coeducation because of claims made by The Sacred Congregation of the Affairs of Religious.

“False also and harmful to Christian education is the so-called method of ‘coeducation.’ This too is founded upon naturalism and the denial of original sin,” the Congregation said in the 1957 Instruction on Coeducation.

As the Catholic Church declared their opinions about coeducation, the conversation surrounding single-sex education began to more heavily involve the social aspect, rather than just the academic aspect.

The socialization of students that attend a single-sex school remains to be a primary topic in the argument for or against this type of education.

Many researchers believe that the social disadvantages outweigh classroom benefits, according to Li and Wong.

“Guys became this other. They were this other species and I could never consider them as friends. It was either they hate me or ‘Oh my gosh I have a crush on them,’” Hoover said. “This mindset became almost detrimental because I would begin to focus on the boys more than my school work, which is ironic because I feel like that was the point of going to an all girls school.”

Li and Wong looked into how students might be affected in the long run by only being in a classroom with members of the same sex in adolescent years. They found that graduates of single-sex schools reported more frequent intimate friendships favoring the same sex, older age at first date, fewer boyfriends or girlfriends, and more past same-sex sexuality.

Hoover said she was particularly interested into looking more into how attending an all girls schools could potentially affect relationships with the opposite sex.

“I’ve just noticed that a lot of my friends that went to all girls schools have not had as much success making relationships with guys, as friends or as romantic partners. I think it’s just really interesting,” Hoover said.

Hannah Gao, a St. Louis native who attended a public high school, has not noticed many challenges among her friends that went to single-sex schools in making relationships with members of the opposite sex.

“In high school, I knew a lot of people that went to all boys or all girls schools, and then coming to SLU I have met even more and gotten to know them better,” Gao said.

“I haven’t really noticed any differences in my friends that went to single-sex high schools. I think they are more open with their emotions and more upfront with their feelings. I see the most affects of going to a single-sex school when students have to adjust from going to a single-sex school to a coed school,” Gao said.

A teacher from Kansas City, Missouri disagreed. Greg Harkness has taught at both all girls and all boys schools and said he has definitely noticed differences in how these students carry themselves.

“Although I am not directly involved or know about my students’ relationships, I can see how attending a single-sex school has impacted their lives. The boys are able to really find themselves through the school’s identity while the girls are able to find power through their classmates,” said Harkness.

Orendain also had a different experience while at his all boys school. He said he has been able to maintain lots of friendships with girls, but he said this might be attributed to his very active participation in the local all girls high school's theater program.

Marco Orendain studies with a female friend. Orendain feels that going to an all boys school helped him to foster closer relationships with girls.

While Li and Wong found that there are certain social setbacks that students might experience if they attend a single-sex school, thousands of students continue to choose this education path every year.

"Attending an all girls school did help prepare me so well for the rigourous academic environment of college, so I had the time and space to kind of relearn how to socialize. There are so many pros and cons to going to a single-sex school and I am still trying to see how it has impacted me everyday," Hoover said.