The All-Girls Advantage
Girls do anything and everything at Sacred Heart. They are leaders, they are role-models, they are team captains and peer supporters. Girls lead the way with courage and confidence in scientific research, in athletic competition, in artistic expression, in service initiatives—girls are at the centre of the entire Sacred Heart experience, with intention.
At ISSH, girls take centre stage—literally and figuratively—in our programmes designed specifically to meet the needs of girls. We believe that our girls benefit across the board from our all-girls programme, but it's not just us. Research indicates that girls schools outperform co-ed schools in all areas when it comes to outcomes for girls. The International Coalition of Girls Schools funds and raises awareness for ongoing research into the advantages of all-girls education in advancing the outcomes of girls and young women. Here are five compelling reasons they share—and we see every day!—that the power of an all-girls education is transformative for female students.
1. Developing Cultural and Interpersonal Competency
In her study Fostering Academic and Social Engagement: An Investigation into the Effects of All-Girls Education in the Transition to University, Dr Tiffani Riggers-Piehl of the University of Missouri-Kansas City found that when compared to co-educated peers, graduates of girls’ schools are more likely to:
- help promote racial understanding
- count their desire to understand others with different beliefs as a strength
- view their ability to work cooperatively with diverse people as strength
In our international school community of approximately 50 different nationalities and more than 15 different religious traditions and belief systems, we see this every day—through our junior school assemblies, our high school World Council, our Global Issues Network club, and simply through the smallest interactions that show love, compassion, and empathy between students of different backgrounds. Our girls live out Goal 1 in our safe and loving all-girls environment.
2. Inspiring Academic Excellence
A wide variety of studies carried out around the world show a correlation between all-girls education and academic success. Some examples include:
- Nearly 80% of girls’ school students report most of their classes challenge them to achieve their full academic potential compared to only 44% of girls at coeducational public schools, according to Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools, by Dr Richard A. Holmgren of Allegheny College;
- Girls’ school graduates are 6 times more likely to consider majoring in maths, science, and technology compared to girls who attended coeducational schools, the Goodman Research Group reports in The Girls’ School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools;
- At the start of university, girls’ school graduates in the U.S. rate their confidence in their maths skill abilities 10% higher than do their co-educated peers, and they are 3 times more likely to consider engineering careers compared to co-educated peers, as reported by Dr Linda Sax of UCLA in Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in their Characteristics and the Transition to College.
At Sacred Heart, we see this every day—our girls not only achieve outstanding outcomes when it comes to college matriculation, but they are engaged, think critically, dig deep into their learning, and show a strong sense of pride in their academic achievement, demonstrating Goal 2 each day.
3. Fostering Social Engagement
When compared to coeducated peers, graduates of girls’ schools are more likely to:
- become involved in environmental programmes;
- deem it essential to participate in community social action programs; and
- be frequently active in volunteer work,
as found by Dr Tiffani Riggers-Piehl in the aforementioned study. Dr Riggers-Piehl also finds that students who attended girls’ schools, compared to coeducated peers, are more likely to publicly communicate their opinion about a cause.
Sacred Heart girls exemplify this research in so many ways— from our youngest learners in kindergarten and junior school, learning about the community around them and how they can make a positive difference through initiatives like our annual rice drive, to our middle and high school students, launching new service clubs and community initiatives each year, care about the world and are empowered and equipped to make an impact, living out Goal 3.
4. Building a Responsible and Positive Community
Girls educated in an all-girls environment are more likely to plan to vote in elections and to value keeping up with political affairs and influencing political structures when compared to their co-educated peers, Dr Tiffani Riggers-Piehl reports in the aforementioned publication. Additionally, Dr Lind Sax found in the aforementioned study that girls’ school graduates are 10% more likely than co-educated peers to have a political discussion with friends, and find it essential to keep current with political issues.
In fact, at girls’ schools, girls demonstrate great confidence in female leadership and become increasingly interested in leadership positions themselves. Data suggests that girls at coeducational schools actually become less interested in leadership positions with age, reports Dr Katherine Kinzler, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago and Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. And 93% of girls’ school graduates say they were offered greater leadership opportunities than co-educated peers and 80% have held leadership positions since graduating from high school, according to the Goodman Research Group's aforementioned publication.
Additionally, girls in all-girls educational environments see a wealth of peer role models, allowing them to ‘see it, to be it’ and making them more aware of the possibilities in their own lives and help set them on their own brilliant paths, reports Megan Murphy, Executive Director of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools.
We see this every day at Sacred Heart—our girls fill every leadership role, from junior school through high school, taking civic engagement into their own hands, launching new initiatives to improve the school and their experiences, and serving as meaningful role models to their peers. They care deeply, exemplifying Goal 4 by taking action to strengthen the community with classmates and transcending grade levels. And, our engaged alumni are made up of scientists, doctors, authors, lawyers, researchers, artists, advocates, and much more, proving to the younger generations of Symbas that girls and women really can do anything.
A Place for Girls to Grow—With Courage and Confidence
Research backs the idea that girls and young women can grow freely in a safe environment to become independent, critically thinking individuals who pursue their passions and contribute to our global society. Some examples include:
- Girls’ school students are more likely than their female peers at coeducational schools to experience an environment that welcomes an open and safe exchange of ideas. Nearly 87% of girls’ school students feel their opinions are respected at their school compared to only 58% of girls at coeducational schools, reports Dr Richard A. Holmgren, Allegheny College, in the aforementioned study.
- Dr Holmgren also purports that students at girls’ schools have higher aspirations and greater motivation than their female peers at coeducational schools, noting that 99% of students at girls’ schools expect to earn a four-year degree, and more than 2/3 expect to earn a graduate or professional degree.
- All-girls settings seem to provide girls a certain comfort level that helps them develop greater self-confidence and broader interests, especially as they approach adolescence, according to Dr Rosemary C Salomone of St John’s University in Same, Different, Equal: Rethinking Single-Sex Schooling.
- Dr Salomone also reports in Columbia University’s Teacher College Record that single-sex programmes create an institutional and classroom climate in which female students can express themselves freely and frequently and develop higher order thinking skills.
- Finally, AQR International reports that girls’ school students display more mental toughness in comparison to girls in coed schools. Research shows that individuals with higher levels of mental toughness are more likely to deal effectively with stress, pressure, opportunity, and challenge.
At ISSH, we couldn't agree more—our passionate, driven girls excel in pursuits across the board, from sciences to humanities, from sports to arts, from business to medicine to design, and everything in-between. Our all-girls environment provides a safe space built on respect and empathy for Goal 5 to flourish, and our students truly do grow—personally, academically, spiritually, emotionally, and physically—with resilience and a sense of self.