Washington, Sept 23 (ANI): A new study has suggested that single-sex schooling might not be as advantageous as previously thought.
Penn State psychologists found that students who attend all-boys or all-girls schools are no better educated than those who attend co-ed schools.
Instead, sex segregation increases gender stereotyping and sexism among students.
Lynn S. Liben, Professor of Psychology, Human Development and Family Studies, and Education, Penn State, and her colleagues report that there is little concrete evidence to support claims that single-sex schools are a better learning environment.
"Our examination of the existing studies leads us to conclude that there is not scientific evidence for positive effects of single-sex schooling," said Liben.
"That's not to say that academic outcomes are definitively worse, but neither are they definitively better. Advantages have not been demonstrated," she added.
Some supporters of single-sex schools argue that brain differences between boys and girls require different teaching styles.
But neuroscientists have not found hard evidence that show differences in girls' and boys' different learning styles.
In 2010, Liben and her graduate student studied preschool classes to look at effects of gender divisions among the students.
They found that after two weeks of teachers using gendered language and divisions-lining children up by gender and asking boys and girls to post work on separate bulletin boards-the students showed an increase in gender-stereotyped attitudes toward each other and their choice of toys, and they played less with children of the other sex.
"The choice to fight sexism by changing coeducational practices or segregating by gender has parallels to the fight against racism," the researchers write in the paper.
"The preponderance of social science data indicated that racially segregated schools promote racial prejudice and inequality," they concluded.
The findings appear in the current issue of Science. (ANI)
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