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16 - The life course consequences of single-sex and co-educational schooling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

By
Alice Sullivan  and
Heather Joshi
Edited by
Ingrid Schoon  and
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Alice Sullivan
Affiliation:
University of London
Heather Joshi
Affiliation:
University of London
Ingrid Schoon
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Summary

Abstract

This chapter reports on a study examining whether attending single-sex rather than co-educational secondary school made a difference to the lives of a cohort of men and women born in Britain in 1958. The project aimed to assess the impact of single-sex secondary schooling, not just on short-term and narrowly academic outcomes, but also on longer-term social, psychological, and economic outcomes. In a generally gendered environment for adults, did it make any difference to have been to a gender segregated school, and in what way? This chapter provides an overview of our findings, and a discussion of the implications for policy and for future research.

Background

Controversies about co-education at secondary schools in Britain began at the end of the nineteenth century and continue to the present. However, the arguments for and against co-education have changed over time, with changing gender differences in educational aspirations and attainment, while the number of single-sex schools has declined steadily. The evidence regarding single-sex schools must therefore be placed in historical context.

Type
Chapter
Information
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment
A Life Course Perspective
 , pp. 365 - 388
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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