The Case for All-Girls Education

What are the benefits of all-girls education during the high school years for young women?

Research Supporting All-Girls Education:

“An estimated less than 1% of girls in the United States attend girls’ schools, yet an impressive 20% of the women currently serving in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives graduated from an all-girls school.”

-National Coalition of Girls’ Schools


“The overwhelming majority of girls’ school students agree to strongly agree that they feel supported at their schools:

95% feel supported by their teachers (compared to 84% of girls at coed schools)
90% report feeling supported by other students (compared to 73% of girls at coed schools)
83% feel supported by their school administrators (compared to 63% of girls at coed schools)”

-Dr. Richard A. Holmgren, Allegheny College, Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience of All-Girls Schools


“Single-sex programs…..create an institutional and classroom climate in which female students can express themselves freely and frequently and develop higher order thinking skills.”

-Dr. Rosemary C. Salomone, Columbia University’s Teacher College Record


“Girls’ school grads are 6 times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology compared to girls who attend coed schools.”

—Goodman Research Group, The Girls’ School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools


“Compared to coed peers, girls’ school grads are 3 times more likely to consider engineering careers.”

—Dr. Linda Sax, UCLA, Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College


“After thousands of observation hours……the amount of gender stereotypes in lessons and teaching practices was ‘startling’ – all in favor of male students. There was an uneven distribution of teacher time, energy, and attention.”

- David Sadker, Myra Sadker, and Karen Zittleman Still Failing at Fairness:How Gender Bias Cheats Girls and Boys in School and What We Can Do About It


The majority – 60% – of girls’ school grads report higher self-confidence over their coed peers (54%).

—Dr. Linda Sax, UCLA, Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College


93% of girls’ school grads say they were offered greater leadership opportunities than peers at coed schools and 80% have held leadership positions since graduating from high school.

—Goodman Research Group, The Girls’ School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools