The year is 2020 and gender-neutral restrooms, transgender rights, and non-binary pronouns seem to be on everyone’s lips – but what about single-sex schools? Should they not be questioned at a time where perceptions of gender are more fluid than ever? Maybe not. Research indicates that all-girls’ schools are boosting girls’ confidence, leaving us with the question of whether single-sex schools are actually outdated or a source of untapped potential for women’s empowerment.

“I would not be the person I am today without attending an all-girls’ school,” says Leen Salah. Before moving to London to study digital media, Leen spent half of her life attending an all-girls’ school in Jordan. Leen explains that she is grateful for her time there, but points out that the strong sense of community she once knew was lost in the process of her school becoming co-educational. “Being surrounded by girls gave me a whole other level of empowerment, different from what any mixed school could ever give,” she says only one week after pupils from Scotland’s last all-girls’ state school took to the streets to protest the proposed introduction of boys. Like Leen, they argued that girls are more likely to feel empowered and grow in confidence when they are not in the presence of the opposite sex.

Leen proudly describes the way her school would encourage girls to work hard and take on leadership roles. “Gender pay gap and feminist issues were always a part of the conversation, but we learned to become bigger than what was holding us back. We learned how to control it and make a change”.

23-year-old Shahidah Victor-Sampson attended an all-girls’ elementary school and agrees that it inspired her to be more ambitious and committed to her work. In contrast to common belief, Shahidah suggests that single-sex schools are contributing to equality between the sexes: “They try to prepare you because they know how hard it is to be a woman in the workforce. We were taught that you had to get the best grades to get even half as far as your male counterparts. Our work ethic became higher because we were told that failure was not an option, and that helped us get further in our careers.”

Melissa Noel says that attending an all-girls’ school inspired her to pick a path in life that went against the traditional gender roles. She is currently studying Cybersecurity and Computer Forensics and explains that she would feel more intimidated to pick subjects like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) if she was around boys because those are typically male-dominated. “Being surrounded by girls gave me confidence to pursue STEM subjects,” she says. According to a 2018 study from the University of Queensland, Melissa is not the only girl with this experience. In fact, the research suggests that girls are less likely to believe they are inferior to boys if they are kept separate from them.

The study also found that girls who attend single-sex schools are more likely to match boys in confidence than those attending co-educational schools. “It was not necessarily the presence of boys that made me more anxious, but rather the presence of girls that increased my confidence,” says Estelle Taylor-Noel, a Biological Sciences student who attended a single-sex school for the first time at the age of 16. Estelle initially chose the school because of its prestigious reputation but feared that an all-girls environment would be uptight and “catty”. To her surprise, the experience turned out to positively impact her confidence. “At first it was daunting because I had such strong prejudices against single-sex schools, however, it quickly became my favourite time in education I have ever experienced.”

In Estelle’s opinion, single sex-schools are necessary in the sense that girls feel more at ease around their own gender. This idea supports the findings of a study conducted by the University of Bristol in 2016 which suggested that girls in co-educational schools tend to be more focused on boys and social comparison. “Boys lead to subconscious social pressure. When they’re not around, there is nobody to impress in a heteronormative sense,” says Estelle. She believes that girls are more likely to reach their potential when they are around each other because that is when they feel most comfortable to participate.

Although Estelle describes her experiences at an all-girls’ school as mostly positive, she acknowledges that a possibly damaging downside is that they tend to shield their pupils. Shahidah agrees: “It was like we were in a little bubble. I think most girls’ schools become these sheltered places because they try to avoid any bad influences. But the truth is that it’s making girls more naïve and ignorant of the things happening in the world around them.” She adds that another downside is that all-girls’ schools tend to breed cliques. However, she looks back at her time at school with positivity and thinks there are lessons to learn from both environments.

There seems to be a consensus when it comes to all-girls’ schools contributing to empowering girls, but there is more uncertainty about their future. Are they outdated? Leen says: “Some people might say so, because we're growing into this society that is normalizing the fact that there are no gender differences between us. But I don’t think single-sex schools are outdated because people should have the option to choose the environment that makes them most comfortable.”

Estelle, on the other hand, points out that single-sex schools’ traditional way of understanding gender makes their future uncertain: “They bring about a ‘girls will be girls’ and ‘boys will be boys’ mindset, leaving out those who feel as though they don’t fit into those gender-shaped boxes. With more politically correct definitions of gender, there needs to be more refining on who can attend what school, and I’m unsure of how they would create these boundaries.” She quickly adds: “Despite this, I think single-sex schools can be valuable. I felt empowered to be who I am and encouraged by the girls to stay true to myself. That was what made my time special.”

All girls’ schools: The holy grail of women’s empowerment?

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