It is nearly impossible to connect achievement in single-sex schools directly with success in the workforce. But it is easy to see that students thrive in certain educational environments. And many of the skills that they pick up in those environments translate into viable workforce skills.
The issue is especially pertinent in terms of the education of girls. Often, in a traditional coed classroom, the math and science abilities of girls are suppressed. Because of that, they tend not to do as well in those class situations. And the door to many career opportunities closes.
"In recent years, there has been growing concern about the quality of education that girls were getting in coed settings, and a sense that just because you were in the same classroom didn't mean you were getting the same education," says Whitney Ransome. She is the executive director of the National Coalition of Girls' Schools (NCGS).
According to some studies, female brains respond better to cooperative environments and practical learning situations, both of which are nurtured in an all-girls setting. Boys, on the other hand, seem to thrive on competition. Clearly, there is a need to accommodate the different learning styles of both groups.
"Most teachers are aware of the issue [of learning differences]," says Steve Murphy. He is the principal of a Canadian coed high school. "Certainly, some teachers are aware of various ways of dealing with that situation in a coed class."
Jeffrey Weld, writing in Education Week, says that those learning differences are fairly easy to accommodate. He suggests that educators place less emphasis on competition and speed and more emphasis on cooperative group work. Also, they should increase the focus on practical applications of mathematics and science.
Ransome says that in a research project conducted in 2000, the NCGS surveyed 4,000 of its alumni. The survey found that graduates were more prepared for leadership roles, were more self-confident and fared better than coed students in math and science studies.
"It's really the can-do attitude of the all-girls setting that stays with many of those women into adulthood," Ransome says. "They are used to taking on challenges and risks. They are used to leading and organizing things. And they don't step away from those kinds of opportunities once they leave their girls' schools and go out into the working world."
She says some people would argue that the advantage of single-sex education is that the classes are smaller and the curriculum is geared for college prep.
Educators at single-sex institutions say the frequency of volunteering is higher in women who have gone through all-girls schools. An interest in community activities has proven beneficial when it comes to looking for work.
Victor Clayton is head of a Canadian all-girls school. He says that the experience of an all-girls school has many values in terms of workplace skills. His school tries to encourage the growth of positive self-esteem. It emphasizes collaborative learning.
"We provide opportunities to experience a wide range of leadership roles that [students] can then take and apply to the workplace," he says.
He adds that generally, his students are more willing to take risks because there's not the same "emotional or social milieu" as at coed institutions.
"We have a very strong focus on high enrollment in the maths and sciences," he says. "Virtually every student graduates with Grade 12 math. We have students pursuing engineering at university as well as business programs and liberal arts.
"Where students struggle with math, we really work at individual programs to keep them going so they don't get too discouraged and drop it."
The America Counts website opens with a note from the U.S. Secretary of Education. It states in part that to be prepared for careers in the 21st century, students will have to have a mastery of complex math.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has said that as educational levels decrease, unemployment rates increase. In 1998, for instance, the unemployment rate for those with a college degree was 1.8 per cent. For those with less than a bachelor's degree, it was about three per cent. And for those without a high school diploma, the rate was over seven per cent.
Occupations requiring an associate degree or more will account for 40 per cent of total job growth until 2008, according to projections from the BLS.
One can deduce from these statistics that education equals employment. And the better the education, the better equipped a student is to succeed in the workforce.
Studies have shown that long-term exposure to single-sex environments may have more of an impact than short-term exposure. But even when evaluating long-term effects, there appears to be little evidence to support a higher level of student performance.
"Hard research is difficult to come by," says Clayton, "but there's a [common] perception that reinforces traditional roles: 'Girls don't do physics,' or 'It's OK, you don't have to worry about math' attitude."
A report originally produced by Pamela Haag for the American Association of University Women says much the same thing. The report claims that "some studies recognize that some single-sex schools are 'doing something different' that may be reproducible in the coeducational context." But it does not go so far as to endorse that learning environment over the more common coed setting.
"I think the biggest thing is, there need to be options and types of school," Ransome says. "You can't have just one type of school. One size doesn't fit all."
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