The Academic Progress of University Students From Co‐educational and Single‐sex Schools*

Abstract

Summary. A comparison of the first‐year progress of university students from co‐educational schools with those from single‐sex schools was made by a matched pair procedure. All students who met the A‐level criteria for matching were extracted from those who took the examination of the WJEC in a three‐year entry to Welsh University Colleges, with first‐year results unknown to the selectors. Variables matched or separated were Arts/Science, sex, population of school area, social class, university institution, and aspects of A‐level attainment, namely, number of subjects taken, best subject, average grade and number of attempts. In Arts there was virtual equality, but in Science the co‐educated made slightly the better progress, significantly so by comparison of failures.

A Comparison of Single-Sex and Coeducational Catholic Secondary Schooling: Evidence From the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988

“…Indeed, as Lee and Bryk (1986) and others (Riordan, 1985(Riordan, , 1990 have concluded, students in single-sex secondary Catholic schools take more academically oriented courses, score higher on standardized achievement tests, and have higher educational aspirations. On the other hand, advocates of coeducational schooling have cast doubt on the differential effectiveness of single-sex and coeducational schooling, arguing that single-sex schools are no more advantageous, either academically or socially, than coeducational schools (Dale, 1974;Dale & Miller, 1972;Marsh, 1989aMarsh, , 1989bMarsh, , 1991Marsh, Owens, Myers, & Smith, 1989).…”

Un/Doing Gender? A Case Study of School Policy and Practice in Zambia

“…First, the decision to separate girls and boys as a strategy of promoting gender equity has been interrogated by scholars of education in Western industrialised countries (Dale and Miller 1972;Trickett et al 1982) as well as in the global South generally, and Africa more specifically (Lee and Lockheed 1990;Masemann 1974). Some scholars have found that all-girls schools have fewer resources and reinforce gender stereotypes about the role of women as wives and mothers (Masemann 1974).…”

The glass ceiling women face: An examination and proposals for development of future women entrepreneurs

“…Other research also indicates that there is no advantage to single-sex education (e.g., Durost, 1996;Haag, 1998;Harker and Nash, 1997;LePore and Warren, 1996;Miller and Dale, 1972;Pollard, 1999). Shmurak (1998), in her longitudinal study of a group of young women from the ninth grade through the first year of college, reported that for course grades, there were no significant differences between the girls who attended all-girls schools and those at coeducational schools on the following measures: grades in mathematics, science, and English, and overall academic average.…”

“…Finn (1980) Male and female students have similar reading skills; however, males outperform females in science and males have more positive attitudes toward science. Dale and Miller (1972) A comparison of the first-year progress of university students from single-sex and coeducational schools found that in arts, there was equality, but in science, the coeducated made slightly better progress. It may be that this trend has continued because of improved financing for, and focus on, math and science education.…”