Co-education and singl-education - Research Paper Example

The same is discussed at length in the paper, to arrive at a logical conclusion, regarding the viability and credibility of single-sex education as the most preferred and beneficial environment for learning. Various articles reviewed as a part of this study point to the fact that single-sex education is increasingly preferred as the most feasible strategy in terms of enhancing student performance, offering the best possible opportunities for students, encouraging them to take up leadership roles, reduce gender bias and instances of sexual abuse, increase and improve career preferences by encouraging students to take up gender-dominated occupations, and breaking gender stereotypes by introducing unconventional educational courses which focus on all round development of the students.

Historically, educational institutions have been essentially gender specific, where there were separate schools for boys and girls. This study begins with the history of single-sex education in the U.S. and eventually traces the benefits, criticisms and comparison of learning outcomes across various fields, with regard to studies conducted world-wide, to trace the impact and influence of type of educational setting on the students’ learning outcome – not only academically but with respect to their long term benefits as well.

According to Bracey (2007) the American educational framework was predominantly oriented toward single-sex education. Such a framework was an outcome of inherent societal structure which was largely patriarchal in nature, where the expectations, opportunities and attitudes towards education of girls varied largely from that of boys. Boys were believed to be more in need of a formalized education since they were naturally assumed to head their families and hence take up more important jobs which required professional training, while girls on the other hand, were assumed to take up family responsibilities and take care of their domestic lives, hence