Girls-only Schools Research Articles

From Isolation to Acceptance: Improving Social Acceptance and Educational Opportunities for Transgender People in Pakistan

Transgender people usually face social isolation and discrimination. Although the situation is improving in developed countries, it is still grim in more traditional and conservative societies like Pakistan. Gathering data through semi-structured interviews from eight female students, eight female teachers, and eight mothers from two girls-only schools in Lahore; this study investigated their perceptions about the social acceptance and educational opportunities for transgender people in the country. It further explored their views about transgender-inclusive education, and how their social inclusion and educational opportunities could be improved. All the participants acknowledged the lack of social acceptance and educational opportunities for transgender people; however, when it came to transgender-inclusive education, opinions were more divided. Some of the participants especially the mothers had reservations due to the social and cultural values, safety concerns, and fears of bad influence and classroom distractions. The teachers also pointed out the fact that schools, communities, students, teachers, and even the transgender people themselves were not ready for transgender-inclusive education. Although most of them believed that transgender-inclusive education was the only viable way to provide education to transgender people in Pakistan, they suggested first preparing the society for it through awareness campaigns, seminars, workshops, training sessions, and school-community interactions.

THE IMPACT OF EDUCATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS' ATTITUDES ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC AND CAREER INTERESTS IN CERAMICS WITHIN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS, GHANA

Educational programmes whether vocational or not have the potential to shape students to be able to give back to their societies. Unfortunately, some attitudes of players of education can affect students so much to dampen their self-efficacy and interest in Ceramics education. This study investigated some educational stakeholders' and their attitudes that can possibly have negative impact on students' academic and career interest in Ceramics within the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. Three schools offering Ceramics in the metropolis were purposively selected. They consisted of one mixed-gender, one boys-only, and one girls-only schools. The study was exploratory research and adopted the QUAN+Qual mixed-methods triangulation to conduct the investigation. Data was concurrently gathered using questionnaire, interviews and observation. 273 participants, including students, teachers, schools’ heads and parents were sampled from the three selected schools. Four Likert scale questionnaire and “Yes or ‘No’ data type was employed where SPSS v24, excel spreadsheet applications as well as frequencies and percentages (descriptive statistical techniques) helped to simplify and interpret the data. The study's findings revealed that educational stakeholders such as parents, students and their peers, teachers and schools’ managers put up behaviours that discourage students’ interest in Ceramics. The study found that low employment opportunities in Ceramics is the primary reason why parents, students, and teachers discourage students’ academic and career interest in Ceramics. The study also conducted a chi-square to establish whether the age, programme and level in school had any correlation with their believe that there is a low employment opportunity in Ceramics. The results found that the level of students alone to have significant correlation with p>0.000.

Gender Gap in STEM Pathways: The Role of Gender-Segregated Schooling in Mathematics and Science Performance

According to the World Economic Forum, the occupational gender gap with men dominating well-remunerated STEM careers is a key factor in the gender pay gap. However, the problem of underrepresentation of women in STEM fields is mitigated or reversed in some Eastern European and Islamic countries. This disparity suggests that cultural factors are at play. Gender-segregated schooling, which is commonly practiced in Islamic countries, is often seen as a contributing factor. However, the issue of gender-segregated education sparks much controversy. Critics argue evidence is lacking, and segregation may foster sexism and hinder social skills.In New Zealand, there is a significant opportunity to conduct research on gender segregation, as approximately 14.43% of girls and 14.35% of boys attend single-gender schools for their secondary (high school) education. In contrast to the USA and Australia, where single-gender schooling is predominantly offered by private and/or Catholic schools, the majority of New Zealand gender-segregated schools are state schools.Utilising the TIMSS 2019 dataset, our analysis revealed that girls from low socio-economic backgrounds and boys from higher socio-economic backgrounds who attend single-gender schools exhibit significantly higher mathematics and science achievement scores compared to their counterparts in co-educational settings. This success is particularly striking for girls in low socio-economic settings. Given mixed international evidence, this suggests that there must be protective factors at single-gender New Zealand schools, positively influencing these students. We examine potential factors setting apart girls-only schools to provide an explanation of our results: (1) a mitigated influence of gender socialisation practices and stereotype threat and (2) explicit messaging aimed at challenging stereotypes and empowering girls to actively engage in STEM fields.

Deconstruction of the Discourse of Femininity: A Case of Thai Girls’ Schools

Summary The study investigates the construction of femininity ideologies of girls-only school websites in Thailand and deconstructs them for analysis at the lexical level. Ideological beliefs underlying the custom of upbringing of young women in Thai cultural contexts are the focus of investigation. We pay a particular attention to how the schools communicate their key messages of vision, mission, core values, and about us on their websites and conduct a corpus-driven discourse analysis on the data. Findings from running tests of frequency and collocation reveal the traits of femininity constructed in the discourse, built the praising of obedience, submissiveness and lady-like features. We conclude that benevolent sexism is a common cultural practice evident in educational institutions.

Density of Fast Food Outlets around Educational Facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Geospatial Analysis.

Background: Childhood obesity remains a public health issue globally. The latest estimate from the World Health Organization showed that over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 were overweight or obese in 2016. Objective: Our study aimed to assess the density of fast food outlets around educational facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: We employed geospatial and quantitative analyses using data on fast food outlets (from surveys conducted between November 2019 and May 2020) and educational facilities in Riyadh city. Data analyses conducted using ArcMap 10.6 and Stata 15 compared the density within 500 m and 500–1000 m from the facilities. Results: We found a high density of fast food outlets around educational facilities. Nearly 80% of fast food were within twelve-minute walking or five-minute driving distances from schools, and nearly 70% of all educational facilities had at least one fast food outlet within the buffer. We also found the densities were high within both the areas closer and the areas farther away from educational facilities. In addition, the density was significantly higher around private schools compared to government schools, and the density around girls-only schools and both-gender schools was higher than that around boys-only schools. Conclusion: There is a high density of fast food outlets around educational facilities in Saudi Arabia. Effective policies are needed to help reduce potential exposure to fast food among young people in Saudi Arabia and other countries with similar settings.

Knowledge and Perception of Emergency Contraceptives Among Adolescent Girls in Imo State, Nigeria

Unintended teenage pregnancies are associated with several negative outcomes, which include unsafe abortion, school dropout and emotional distress. Contraceptives, especially emergency contraceptives, which offer a second chance of preventing an unplanned pregnancy after unprotected intercourse, may be useful in reducing teenage pregnancies. There have been several studies on the assessment of the level of knowledge and usage of emergency contraception among adolescents. This study focused on comparing the knowledge and perception of emergency contraceptives among female adolescents in co-educational secondary schools and girls-only schools. The study utilized mixed methods to examine knowledge and perception of emergency contraceptives among adolescent girls in Imo State, Nigeria. Systematic and simple random sampling techniques were used to pick respondents from the purposively selected schools in Imo State. Only 14.5% of the respondents had good knowledge of emergency contraceptives even though 52.8% of the sample had heard of them. In the girls-only schools, 19.4% of the respondents had good knowledge of emergency contraceptives, compared with 9.2% of the respondents in co-educational schools who had such knowledge. Additionally, only 25% of the respondents in all had ever used emergency contraceptives. All the respondents had the notion that emergency contraceptives might cause female infertility. The schools had almost similar perceptions about emergency contraceptives. Therefore, sex education, specifically for each gender, is recommended. Also, awareness programs on the use of emergency contraceptives should be intensified among adolescents.

Mathematics Anxiety in Secondary School Female Students: Issues, Influences and Implications

Mathematics anxiety is a global phenomenon that has generated research interest over the past four decades. Many researchers have suggested that girls display higher levels of mathematics anxiety than boys. This article explores that conjecture in the New Zealand context. It reports on the prevalence of mathematics anxiety in adolescents and investigates the factors that influence students’ mathematics anxiety in mathematics classrooms. Participants in the study were Year 9 students (N = 415) from seven secondary schools in New Zealand. Students were asked to indicate their levels of mathematics test anxiety and mathematics learning anxiety. Statistical analyses confirmed that girls report higher levels of mathematics anxiety than boys. Findings revealed that girls’ mathematics anxiety increased with school decile, and was higher in single-sex girls-only schools. Mathematics test anxiety was a major contributor to levels of mathematics anxiety. The article offers a number of strategies that schools might put in place aimed at reducing mathematics anxiety.

The Risk Factors of Sexual Behavior Among Middle School Students in South Korea

ABSTRACTUnderstanding sexual intercourse among adolescents is an important public health issue. To establish the risk factors of coitus among youth, we use 11th Korea Youth Risk Behaviour Web-based Survey data. Participants were completed a questionnaire on sexual behaviour, alcohol consumption, smoking, mental health, physical activity, weight management, health equity, and others. Among boys, coitus experience was higher in boys-only schools than in mixed-sex schools; conversely, in girls, coitus experience was higher in mixed-sex schools than in girls-only schools. High economic status, having step-parents, consuming alcohol or tobacco, low sex education, and low happiness scores were associated with coitus in boys, while the factors in girls were consuming alcohol or tobacco, low body mass index, low happiness score, and low academic performance. Boys with high economic status should be regarded as high risk, and mental health appears important for sexual health in both boys and girls.

Reasoning About Single-Sex Schooling for Girls Among Students, Parents, and Teachers

The number of United States public schools offering single-sex education for girls has increased dramatically in the past decade. Rationales for all-girls schools are diverse and grounded in differing gender ideologies. We examined reasoning about all-girls schools among school stakeholders (i.e., individuals affected by single-sex schools, including students, parents, and teachers) in the Southwestern United States. Specifically, middle school students attending all-girls (n = 398) and coeducational (n = 191) schools, mothers of middle school students attending all-girls (n = 217) and coeducational (n = 64) schools, and teachers employed at all-girls (n = 18) and coeducational (n = 97) middle schools rated the veracity of multiple rationales for girls-only schools. Specifically, we examined rationales for single-sex schooling related to gender differences in learning, gender differences in interests, girls’ ingroup preference, and gender discrimination. Endorsement of rationales differed across participant role (student, parent, teacher) and school type (single-sex, coeducational). Overall, stakeholders affiliated with an all-girls school were more supportive of each rationale than stakeholders affiliated with coeducational schools. Teachers affiliated with the single-sex school strongly endorsed gender differences in learning as a rationale for single-sex schooling. Endorsement of rationales did not vary across participant gender. The implications of these findings for educational policy and the interpretation of research on single-sex schooling are discussed.

Gender Gap in School Science: Are Single-Sex Schools Important?

This paper compares science subject choices and science-related career plans of Australian adolescents in single-sex and coeducational schools. Data from the nationally representative Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth collected from students who were 15 years of age in 2009 show that, in all schools, boys are overrepresented in physical science courses and careers, while girls are overrepresented in life science. It appears that students in all-girls schools are more likely to take physical science subjects and are keener on careers in physics, computing or engineering than their counterparts in coeducational schools. However, multi-level logit regressions reveal that most apparent differences between students in single-sex and coeducational schools are brought about by differentials in academic achievement, parental characteristics, student’s science self-concept, study time and availability of qualified teachers. The only differences remaining after introducing control variables are the higher propensity of boys in single-sex schools to plan a life science career and the marginally lower propensity of girls in girls-only schools to study life science subjects. Thus, single-sex schooling fosters few non-traditional choices of science specialization. The paper discusses the likely consequences of gender segregation in science and a limited potential of single-sex schools to reduce them. The results of the current analysis are contrasted with a comparable study conducted in Australia a decade ago to illustrate the persistence of the gender gap in science field choices.

Getting kids active by participating in sport and doing It more often: focusing on what matters

BackgroundReduced time dedicated to physical education and free play in recent decades emphasizes the need to promote opportunities for sport participation in adolescents in order to increase physical activity levels. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of sociodemographic and biological characteristics, behavioural patterns, and school-related and sport-specific variables with time spent participating in sport.MethodsA total of 1837 secondary school students (age: 14.6 ± 1.2 years; 50.9 % boys) from 19 of 23 schools in the Otago Region (New Zealand) completed an online sport survey and Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire in 2009. Using multilevel modeling, we examined the association of individual-, school- and sport-related variables on sport participation and the amount of time spent in sports.ResultsHigher rates of sport participation were associated with lower neighbourhood deprivation scores (OR (95%CI): 0.75 (0.49-1.14), 0.57 (0.38-0.86), 0.48 (0.28-0.81)), higher quintiles of physical activity (2.89 (2.10-3.96), 2.81 (1.68-4.70), 3.54 (2.24-5.57), 3.97 (1.99-7.95)), highest quintiles of screen time (1.58 (0.94-2.65), 1.99 (1.42-2.80), 2.17 (1.43-3.30), 1.88 (1.37-2.57)) and boys only school status (2.21 (1.57-3.10)). Greater amount of time spent in sports was associated with male gender (0.56 (0.43-0.74), lower neighbourhood deprivation scores (0.72 (0.59-0.93), 0.78 (0.58-1.04), 0.62 (0.39-1.00)), higher quintiles of physical activity (3.18 (2.29-4.41), 4.25 (2.91-6.20), 8.33 (5.58-12.44), 6.58 (4.07-10.64)), highest quintile of screen time (1.83 (1.31-2.56), greater availability of sports outside school (1.68 (1.22-2.32)), better sport management (2.57 (1.63-4.07)) and provision of sport courts at school (0.57 (0.40-0.81)). Conversely, obesity was associated with less time spent participating in sport (0.50 (0.31-0.80)).ConclusionResults support the use of sport participation as an effective strategy to increase physical activity levels and identify target groups and areas for interventions, program design and policy development. Interventions should focus on improving accessibility to sport programs for all adolescents, providing adequate sport grounds at school, and promoting good sport management practices. Programs and policies encouraging sport participation should address in particular the needs of adolescents living in deprived neighborhoods, those attending coeducational and girls-only schools, and those who are obese.

Influence of type of school on self perception of mathematical ability and achievement among girls in secondary school in Harare

The study explored the influence of type of school on fourth-year secondary school girls‟ selfperception of ability and achievement in Mathematics. The study sample comprised of 90 girls from one girls-only school and one coeducational school in Harare district, who were selected using stratified random sampling techniques. Girls‟ perception of their ability in mathematics was measured using a selfadministered questionnaire with both open- and closed-ended questions Mathematics achievement was assessed using document analysis of the two >schools‟ national examination results over an eleven year period.. The findings indicate that the self-perception of mathematical ability of girls in the single-sex school is higher than those in coeducational school. However, there is no significant difference in the achievement of ordinary level girls in mathematics attending either the single-sex or the co-educational school (x² = 0.4368 p < 0.05).

Policy Impacts on Schooling Gender Gaps in Developing Countries: The Evidence and a Framework for Interpretation

In many regions of the developing world girls continue to receive less education than boys. This paper reviews the evidence on the effects of policies in the education sector and outside it on household schooling investments in girls and boys, distinguishing between policies that are ostensibly gender neutral and those that explicitly target girls. It is frequently (but certainly not universally) found that the demand for girl's schooling is more responsive than boys' to gender neutral changes in school cost or distance as well as quality. Although these patterns can be interpreted in terms of parental preferences, this paper shows that they can also plausibly be explained within a human capital investment framework through assumptions about the nature of schooling cost and returns functions. Among these policies, increasing the physical accessibility of schools emerges as a measure that may result in disproportionate enrollment gains for girls. Where gender gaps are large or persistent, however, direct targeting of girls is probably necessary. Formal evidence from a number of demand or supply side interventions, including subsidies to households and to schools to enroll girls and the provision of girls-only schools, suggests the potential for targeted measures to yield substantial gains for girls. Many other policies, such as subsidized childcare or flexible school scheduling that address the opportunity costs of girls' time, hold promise but for the most part have yet to be subject to rigorous assessment. The paper discusses methodological problems in such assessments and concludes with suggestions for future research on policies to close schooling gender gaps.

Challenging behaviour among Indian children with visual impairment

The present study investigated the type and extent of challenging behaviour in three residential schools in India for children with visual impairment. Teachers completed a survey of challenging behaviour in one boys-only school (n = 123), one girls-only school (n = 88), and one co-educational school (n = 125). Among the 336 total children, 24% were identified as having challenging behaviours. The most frequently reported challenging behaviours were withdrawal (17%), hyperactivity (15%), stereotyped mannerisms (12%), irritability (12%), aggression (10%) and inappropriate speech (9%). Self-injury was rare (1%). The results highlight a need for effective school-based assessment and intervention strategies to address challenging behaviours among children with visual impairment.

Equity in Mathematics Education: Influences of Feminism and Culture

Introduction: Equity in Mathematics Education, Gabriele Kaiser and Pat Rogers. Part 1 Effecting Change: Intervening with Female Students, Working with Future Teachers, Focusing on Practising Teachers and Educating the Public: The METRO Achievement Program: Helping Inner-city Excel, Denisse R. Thompson Who Wants to Feel Stupid All of the Time?, Olive Fullerton Assisting Women to Complete Graduate Degree, Lynn Friedman A National Network of Women: Why, How and For What?, Barbro Grevholm Women Do Maths, Claudie Solar, Louise Lafortune and Helene Kayler Girls and Computers: Making Teachers Aware of the Problems, Cornelia Niederdrenk-Felgner Common Threads: Perceptions of Mathematics Education and the Traditional Work of Women, Mary Harris. Part 2 The Cultural Context: Comparative Studies and Cultural Perspectives: Culture, Gender and Mathematics, Gurcharn Singh Kaeley Why Hawai'i Outperform Hawai'i Boys: The Influence of Immigration and Peer Culture, Paul Brandon, Cathie Jordan and Terry Ann Higa Mathematics and New Zealand Maori Girls, Sharleen D. Forbes Equal or Different? Cultural Influences on Learning Mathematics, Gilah Leder Gender Inequity in Education: A Non-western Perspective, Saleha Naghmi Habibullah Gender and Mathematics: The Singapore Perspective, Beinderjeet Kaur The French Experience: The Effects of De-segregation, Francoise Delon The Contribution of Girls-only Schools to Mathematics and Science Education in Malawi, Pat Hiddleston. Part 3 Feminist Pedagogy in Mathematics Education: Feminist Influences and Changing the Discipline: Feminism and Strategies for Redressing Gender Imbalance in Mathematics, Roberta Mura Women's Ways of Knowing in Mathematics, Joanne Rossi Becker Putting Theory into Practice, Pat Rogers Gender Reform Through School Mathematics, Sue Willis We Don't Even Want to Play: Classroom Strategies and Curriculum Which Benefit Girls, Joanna Higgins Moving Towards a Feminist Epistemology of Mathematics, Leone Burton Mathematics: An Abstracted Discourse, Betty Johnston Mathematics: Beyong Good and Evil?, Nancy Shelley.

Some Swaziland High School Students' Attitudes towards the Study of Mathematics

ABSTRACTThe study on students' attitudes towards mathematics was carried out in 1996. It involved selected schools from the three school categories i.e. Co-education, Boys-only and Girls-only high schools. The variables considered were students' interest, confidence and performance in mathematics, and students' future career prospects involving mathematics. Data were collected using questionnaires, and analysed in terms of statistical descriptive and non-parametric forms. The findings showed that girls in Girls-only schools were more confident with better performance and considered mathematics to be of greater significance to their future careers than girls in Co-education schools. Also girls in Co-education schools performed poorer, were less confident and less interested in mathematics than boys in the same schools. It was concluded that gender differences existed among students in the considered sample and that there is need to change the studying environment situation in Co-education schools.