Reviewing School Uniform through a Public Health Lens: Evidence about the Impacts of School Uniform on Education and Health

Abstract

This study uses a public health lens to review evidence about the impacts of wearing a school uniform on students’ health and educational outcomes. It also reviews the underlying rationales for school uniform use, exploring historical reasons for uniform use, as well as how questions of equity, human rights, and the status of children as a vulnerable group are played out in debates over school uniforms. The literature identified indicates that uniforms have no direct impact on academic performance, yet directly impact physical and psychological health. Girls, ethnic and religious minorities, gender-diverse students and poorer students suffer harm disproportionately from poorly designed uniform policies and garments that do not suit their physical and socio-cultural needs. Paradoxically, for some students, uniform creates a barrier to education that it was originally instituted to remedy. The article shows that public health offers a new perspective on and contribution to debates and rationales for school uniform use. This review lays out the research landscape on school uniform and highlights areas for further research.

Child poverty and the challenges for Catholic schools in the post-pandemic era

“…There is, of course, a wide and at-times heated debate about the advantages, disadvantages, cost-effectiveness of school uniforms for children and young people and, for our purposes, in Catholic schools (Ansari et al, 2021;Brunsma, 2004;Reidy, 2021). While there is limited space to engage with these debates and the area of Catholic school uniform is under researched, it is worth observing a number of points.…”

Which one? A comparative study of traditional and sports uniforms on academic achievement, cognitive performance, playtime, bullying, and discrimination in adolescents: The Cogni-Action Project

“…School uniforms have an important social context; in fact, in New Zealand, it is a reason why students choose their schools (1), but in general, uniforms have been adopted as strategies by principals and governments to improve educational test scores and student behavior (2,3). Indeed, several studies have suggested that traditional uniforms remove social differences, increase security, reduce violence, improve school climate and discipline, promote social responsibility, and improve academic achievement (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). However, findings on this matter are highly sparse and heterogeneous and seem to be dependent on the population studied, age, race, educational context, and socioeconomic status (2, 3, 6, 9, 10), and the aforementioned features have not been proven yet (3,6,7,9).…”

“…Indeed, several studies have suggested that traditional uniforms remove social differences, increase security, reduce violence, improve school climate and discipline, promote social responsibility, and improve academic achievement (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). However, findings on this matter are highly sparse and heterogeneous and seem to be dependent on the population studied, age, race, educational context, and socioeconomic status (2, 3, 6, 9, 10), and the aforementioned features have not been proven yet (3,6,7,9). Given that most evidence about this research issue comes from developed countries, ascertaining uniforms' influence in a less advantageous social context (e.g., in a Latin-American country such as Chile) could give us more insight into this public matter.…”

“…Moreover, economic, social, and cultural status is related to the school climate (23), promoting greater learning and reducing bullying and conflicts among students (24). Despite the abovementioned, there is a lack of studies exploring differences between TU and SU and their effect on academic, cognitive, and physical activities and psychological indicators such as bullying and discrimination feelings in the same student sample (6).…”

“…We propose to study all these relevant indicators, first, in order to improve the understanding of these concerns, which could help generate social and educational policy, especially in vulnerable communities (6), and second, in contexts with greater social inequality, to demonstrate that possible differences due to the type of school uniform on outcomes would disappear when the socioeconomic status is considered. Therefore, this study establishes to determine whether adolescents wearing TUs present differences from those wearing SUs in (a) educational achievements (i.e., academic achievement and cognitive performance), (b) playtime, and (c) bullying and discrimination at school.…”