Does Separating Genders in Schools Improve Academic Achievements?

Two out of three Americans are against single-sex education. Meetville.com (dating app to find the right person) measured public opinion in a poll, conducted in the period between 6/4/14 and 9/22/14.

People were invited to answer the following question: “Should children be taught in single-gender classrooms?” Out of total number of 72,908 participants 64% majority are sure separate-gender classes in schools do more harm than bring benefit.

However, not all studies are so clear on the topic. Kristi Kahl, coordinator of the Long Beach California Unified School District's middle school reform, concludes that "It is really hard to say how you can attribute improvements to gender separation, how much you can attribute to instruction, and how much you can attribute to parent commitment. But in reality, probably all of those things come into play."

Affected by various education reforms majority of participants came from the USA - 89%. Comparatively from Canada - 2%, where it is not as widespread. British respondents accounted to 3%, maybe due to the fact that this kind of education is mostly associated with private schools and therefore not affordable to everyone. Participants from Australia made up 3%, there the practice is mostly common in Catholic schools; and respondents from other countries made up 3% as well.

Alex Cusper, Meetville service analyst,  sums up that “the topic of single-sex education is controversial and proves to have many approaches depending on the country as well. Often, the decision whether to segregate the genders at school derives from the historical experience of the country and its traditions.”

Meetville, a leading mobile dating service, regularly conducts research among its users. Millions of people from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia answer hundreds of questions every month. You can find the results of the poll here. If you are interested in research on a particular topic, please contact us. Any reprint of the material should be followed by clickable links to the survey.