In a School of Their Own: Young Girls Thrive in Single-Sex Boarding Schools
What do Rosa Parks, Sally Ride, Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice, Tyra Banks, and Hillary Clinton all have in common? Besides being famous influential women, all attended all-girl middle schools, high schools, or colleges.
It is well-documented that single-sex schools produce some of the best minds and talents in the world. All-girls therapeutic boarding schools are particularly beneficial for girls struggling with low self-esteem, defiance, depression, substance abuse, or other behavioral issues. Small classes, one-on-one attention, and a well-rounded curriculum set students up for academic success, while also creating leadership opportunities, lasting friendships, and a strong sense of self.
Becoming a Leader
In a school of their own, girls have every opportunity to be who they want to be. One dreams of leading the debate team; one aspires to make team captain in her favorite sport; one writes poetry in hopes of becoming a singer or writer one day. Whatever they choose, young ladies in all-girl boarding schools know they have the skills, confidence, and ability to become leaders in any setting.
In traditional co-ed middle schools and high schools, "girls don't get a whole lot of air time," says Michelle Fine, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania. According to Research from the Harvard School of Education and the American Association of University Women, in co-ed classrooms:
- Teachers call on boys four times more often than they call on girls.
- Teachers often direct the challenging questions to the male students while giving the female students less difficult questions.
- Teachers are more likely to "praise and give positive reinforcement" to the intellectual contributions of boys in the classroom, while commenting on the social skills of girls.
Based on societal messages, young girls often shy away from leadership positions because of a "fear of success" that boys don't have, and that appears to be amplified by attendance at a co-ed high school, according to Columbia University researchers.
"If anyone loses out in coeducation, it is clearly girls," states Barrie Thorne, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California. "By the time coeducation is finished, boys have higher test scores, tend to dominate classrooms, and have more access to computers, math and science."
Breaking the Stereotypes
Gender stereotypes give many young girls a distorted view of their potential. Young women assume they are destined to fall behind in science and math, place second or third in sports, train for "traditional female" jobs, and receive less attention in class simply because they are female.
Some critics of girls' boarding schools argue single-sex classrooms perpetuate stereotypes and promote segregation. But the fact is males and females are different, just not in the ways society thinks. Boys and girls learn differently, have different brain structures, and face different societal pressures, but girls are just as likely, if not more so, to excel in math and science, to thrive in competitive sports, to have opinions, and to raise their hands in class, if given the opportunity.
From the perspective of a woman who attended an all-girls school, Mary Ann Fergus told the Chicago Tribune she "can instinctively understand why allowing a young boy to roam a bit freely and make noise in the classroom is not necessarily a bad thing, just as it makes sense to allow girls to work in small groups or arrange chairs in a circle because some of us learn best when we make an emotional connection."
In girls' boarding schools, young women are given the same curriculum, opportunities, and individualized attention that boys receive, without gender stereotypes or teasing from their male counterparts. This leads to higher test scores, increased college enrollment, and greater self-confidence, in addition to less negative peer pressure and a stronger sense of sisterhood.
In her book Same, Different, Equal: Rethinking Single-Sex Schooling, researcher Dr. Rosemary Salomone writes:
"All-girls settings seem to provide girls a certain comfort level that helps them develop greater self-confidence and broader interests, especially as they approach adolescence. Research has found that single-sex schools and classes promote less-gender-polarized attitudes toward certain subjects - math and science in the case of girls and language arts and foreign languages in the case of boys."Redefining the 'Real World'
Critics have argued that single-sex boarding schools prevent girls from experiencing "real world" conditions they will later confront in relationships and in the workplace.
But boarding schools give girls a break from social pressures and create room for personal growth and exploration. Whitney Ransome, co-executive director of the National Coalition of Girls' Schools, believes girls benefit from attending single-sex schools before venturing into the co-ed world.
"It's best that you understand your own world, own values, your own inspirations first," says Ransome. "Then you are better able to navigate the coed world. If we can, in any way, allow girls to hold onto their childhood and their youth and postpone their engagement in behaviors that are really inappropriate, I think that's good."
According to many graduates of girls' boarding schools, young ladies still think about sexuality and interacting with the opposite sex in a single-gender environment, and find time in their personal lives for boys and socializing. The true benefit is not being distracted by appearances and popularity at a time when academics and personal development should be the focus.
A classroom of girls is a place where education and a strong sense of self come first. In an environment where teachers feel empowered and where girls understand their inherent value and intelligence, girls can be 100 percent strong, and 100 percent girl.
Related: Boarding Schools for Girls
