Single-sex Schools Research Articles

Writing the Love of Boys: Origins of Bishōnen Culture in Modernist Japanese Literature (review)

Reviewed by: Writing the Love of Boys: Origins of Bishōnen Culture in Modernist Japanese Literature Steven C. Ridgely (bio) Writing the Love of Boys: Origins of Bishōnen Culture in Modernist Japanese Literature. By Jeffrey Angles. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2011. vii, 302 pages. $75.00, cloth; $25.00, paper. The contemporary formation of “boy’s love” (BL) is a manga genre authored primarily by women and marketed to girls (who like boys who like boys). Jeffrey Angles’s book is about this genre’s Taisho and early Showa literary predecessor, which was authored by men but marketed to both male and female audiences. Angles makes a strong claim about these writers of what might be called Gay Taisho—that the writers Murayama Kaita, Edogawa Ranpo, and Inagaki Taruho collectively invented a language for the emergent form of egalitarian love between young men in single-sex schools that begins to displace the hierarchical and machismo-driven formation that preceded it. “Love of boys,” then, refers not to men’s love of boys but to the love between adolescent boys or young men that is aestheticized and codified into a bishōnen (beautiful young men) genre of literary production. Writing the Love of Boys is a seven-chapter book consisting of an introduction that positions the study amid work on the literary and cultural history of male-male desire in Japan, two chapters on the poet and artist Murayama Kaita (1896–1919), two chapters on the mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo (1894–1965), one chapter on the modernist writer Inagaki Taruho (1900–1977), and a conclusion tracking the legacies of these writers in post-war culture. The main chapters are characterized by a great deal of translation, a primary interest of the author. Angles has devoted much of his energy to translation recently, producing volumes of translated poetry by Arai Takako, Itō Hiromi, Takahashi Mutsuo, and Tada Chimako. His translations of short stories by Kaita, Ranpo, Taruho, Yumeno Kyūsaku, and Hagiwara Sakutarō are collected in the anthology Modanizumu: Modernist Fiction from Japan, 1913–1938 (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008), edited by the late William Tyler. Angles has rapidly emerged as the most active advocate of contemporary poetry working in Japan studies today. [End Page 193] For this study, Angles acknowledges and builds on Jim Reichert’s work on male-male sexuality in Meiji literature and Greg Pflugfelder’s history of male-male sexuality from the Tokugawa period to the early postwar period. But this book can be positioned among other recent research as well. In tracing the roots of a 1970s manga genre back to earlier literary formations, Angles’s book will pair nicely with Deborah Shamoon’s recent study of shōjo culture from Meiji literature through contemporary manga (Passionate Friendship: The Aesthetics of Girls’ Culture in Japan [University of Hawai‘i Press, 2012]). Shamoon’s central insight might also be applicable to bishōnen—that the passionate female-female “esu” (S) relationships, like “smashes” elsewhere, were not simply tolerated by school authorities but were seen as fully in line with heterosexual development as practice relationships in preparation for marriage and as a deflection of sexual desire away from premarital sex with boys. Writing the Love of Boys could also be considered against John Treat’s Great Mirrors Shattered (Oxford University Press, 1999). Treat’s book, when understood for what it is—a piece of experimental literary writing that combines the “rhetoric of confession” from Taisho-style “shishōsetsu” (I-novels) with 1970s gay life-writing in the style of Larry Kramer—is very much akin to the memoir-of-the-present mode of writing Angles explores in the Kaita chapters. And yet, these books in other ways could not be further apart. I expected to find something scandalous in Angles’s book, too, but what makes us blush is just how desperately sweet, gentle, and (frankly) clichéd the love odes of Kaita, for example, are to the object of his affections: “my yearning / Cannot withstand your scintillating form / And I weep” (p. 57). The personal is very much part of Angles’s book, however, as with Treat’s. Writing the Love of Boys is done...

Meeting needs of Muslim girls in school sport: Case studies exploring cultural and religious diversity

This paper contains a sociocultural analysis of school sport experiences of Muslim girls in two countries with different gender policies in physical education (PE) classes: England and Denmark. In Denmark, PE lessons take place in co-educative classes, in England schools are more diverse, with predominantly co-educational but also single-sex and faith schools offering different learning contexts. Two case studies from Denmark and England are used to explore the experiences of migrant Muslim girls in these different settings. A social constructionist approach to gender underpins the interpretation of stakeholders' voices on the inclusion of Muslim girls and the analysis of PE discourses in these countries. Findings illustrate similarities and differences at the interface of cultural diversity, political rhetoric of inclusion and realities of sport experiences for Muslim girls in both countries. Complex influences on PE experiences include gender stereotypes, cultural and religious orientations and practices, as well as actions and expectations of parents, communities and coaches/teachers. The studies provide insights into the ways participants managed their identities as Muslim girls in different sport environments to enable participation and retention of their cultural identities. Highlighted throughout the paper are the ways in which school sport policy and practice, providers and gatekeepers, can include or exclude groups, in this case Muslim girls. Too often coaches and teachers are unaware of crucial facts about their learners, not only in terms of their physical development and capabilities but also in terms of their cultural needs. Mistakes in creating conducive learning environments leave young people to negotiate a way to participate or refrain from participation.

The Single Sex Debate for Girls in Science: a Comparison Between Two Informal Science Programs on Middle School Students’ STEM Identity Formation

Currently, there are policy debates regarding the efficacy and legality of single sex formal and informal education programs. This issue is particularly poignant in science education due to the historical marginalization of women in these fields. This marginalization has resulted in women being positioned as a stigmatized group within many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields. Research points to adolescence as the age where this sense of marginalization begins to develop. As a result, policy responses have utilized various frameworks such as: increased access for women, changing pedagogy to address women’s learning styles, changing the language and culture of science to prevent marginalization of stigmatized groups, and finally exploring the role that individual identity plays in the marginalization of women. This study adds to the policy debate as it applies to single sex education by comparing middle school participants’ STEM identity formation during two informal science learning environments (an all girls’ STEM camp and a co-educational STEM camp). Additionally, this study focuses on the influence of camp activities within two informal science education programs: particularly the provision of role models and authentic STEM research activities, as means to improve STEM identity and make these fields relevant to the lives of middle school students. The results indicate that both camps improved girls’ STEM identities. These findings suggest that the single sex environment is not as important to STEM identity as the pedagogy used within the program.

The effects of single-sex compared with coeducational schooling on mathematics and science achievement: Data from Korea.

Some U.S. school districts are experimenting with single-sex schooling, hoping that it will yield better academic outcomes for students. Empirical research on the effects of single-sex schooling, however, has been equivocal, with various studies finding benefits, disadvantages, or no effect. Most of this research is marred because families generally choose whether the child attends a single-sex or coeducational school, so there are selection effects that create pre-existing differences between students in the different types of schools. The research reported here capitalized on the case of Korea, where students are randomly assigned to single-sex or coeducational schools. Using 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data, we applied hierarchical linear modeling to account for the nesting of students within schools. Results for eighth graders indicated no differences between students in single-sex and coeducational schools in mathematics and science achievement. Results from the 2003 TIMSS data replicated the finding: students' mathematics and science achievement was unrelated to the gender composition of their school. These results call into question whether single-sex schooling has the academic advantages claimed by its proponents.

The Role of Single-Sex Education in the Academic Engagement of College-Bound Women: A Multilevel Analysis

Background/ContextAs opportunities for public and private single-sex education have expanded, the debate surrounding this issue has become more heated. Recent reviews of research on single-sex education have concluded that the evidence is mixed, due in large part to the difficulty of attributing differences between single-sex and coeducational students specifically to the single-sex nature of their experience, as opposed to other differences between single-sex and coeducational schools and their attendees. This study comes at a time of renewed national interest in the value and appropriateness of single-sex education, especially as changes to Title IX have expanded the opportunities to establish single-sex classes and activities, and contributes new data with a focus exclusively on the academic engagement of female students from single-sex and coeducational high schools.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyThis study addresses whether levels of academic engagement differ between single-sex and coeducational settings.Research DesignThe study uses self-reported survey data and multilevel modeling to address secondary school-level effects in a national sample of women entering college.Findings/ResultsThe analyses suggest that attendance at a single-sex high school remains a significant predictor of academic engagement even after controlling for the confounding role of student background characteristics, school-level features, and peer contexts within each school. Specifically, women attending all-girls high schools report higher levels of academic engagement across numerous fronts: studying individually or in groups, interacting with teachers, tutoring other students, and getting involved in student organizations. However, these results may also be attributed to other features that differentiate single-sex from coeducational schools, such as smaller enrollments and racial/ethnic diversity of the schools in this study.Conclusions/RecommendationsAlthough the results of this study support the claims that all-female environments provide a unique opportunity for young women to thrive, these results should be interpreted with some caution. Because of the limitations of the study, it is difficult to make definitive inferences about the relationship between single-sex education and academic engagement, and we cannot assert with confidence that school gender alone is responsible for higher academic engagement. The study points the way for future research that further distinguishes the role of individual and school-level attributes and ideally examines this issue using longitudinal data. Finally, given the current expansion of single-sex education in the public schools, future research ought to employ these methodological advances in studies on single-sex public education and should consider the consequences of single-sex settings for both female and male students.

Relationship of age at menarche on anthropometric index and menstrual irregularity in late adolescent girls in Seoul.

PurposeTo examine the relationship between menarcheal age and anthropometric indices and menstrual irregularity in late adolescent girls in Seoul.MethodsWe surveyed 4,218 fertile adolescent girls between the ages of 16 and 18 years to determine their anthropometric indices and menarcheal age. Measurements were taken from June 2008 to October 2009 at seven girl's high schools in Seoul, Korea. Participants were offered self-report questionnaire as a survey tool that included questions on anthropometric indices (height, weight, waist circumference), menarcheal age, menstrual pattern, frequency of menstruation per year.ResultsThe participants were categorized into three groups based on menarcheal age: early menarche group (younger than 2 standard deviations [SD]), mid menarche group (within ±2 SD), late menarche group (older than 2 SD). The mean age of early menarche group was 9.9±0.2 years, mid menarche group 12.5±0.9 years, late menarche group 15.1±0.3 years (P < 0.001). Heights were recorded as 160.4±5.2 cm, 161.8±4.9 cm, 162.3±4.7 cm in early, mid, and late menarche group, respectively (P = 0.001). Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference significantly were lager in early menarche group than mid and late menarche ones (P < 0.001). The menarcheal age had a positive correlation with height and negative correlations with weight, BMI, waist circumference (P < 0.001). The prevalence of oligomenorrhea was more frequent in late menarche group than early and mid menarche group.ConclusionThe menarcheal age have positive relationship with height and inverse relationship with BMI and waist circumference in late adolescent girls in Seoul. Late menarcheal girls are disposed to have menstrual irregularity compared to early menarcheal girls.

Gender and Overconfidence: Effects of Context, Gendered Stereotypes, and Peer Group

Research on Swedish school children has found that boys tend to be overconfident about their grades in mathematics, while girls tend to be underconfident. We find similar results for El Salvadorian children. Mathematics is considered a masculine task and we show that these findings do not carry over to a gender neutral task (social science), where both sexes tend to be overconfident. We find that girls in a single-sex school are more underconfident in their mathematics abilities than girls in a co-ed school, which may suggest that gender stereotypes become reinforced in single-sex environments.

Do Single-Sex Classes Affect Exam Scores? An Experiment in a Coeducational University

We examine the effect of single-sex classes on the pass rates, grades, and course choices of students in a coeducational university. We randomly assign students to all-female, all-male, and coed classes and, therefore, get around the selection issues present in other studies on single-sex education. We find that one hour a week of single-sex education benefits females: females are 7% more likely to pass their first year courses and score 10% higher in their required second year classes than their peers attending coeducational classes. We find no effect of single-sex education on the probability that a female will take technical classes and there is no effect of single-sex education for males. Furthermore we are able to examine potential mechanisms driving the single-sex effect for females. We find that the results are consistent with a reduction in stereotype threat for females and are not due to a potential tracking effect.

Los colegios diferenciados por sexo en Estados Unidos: constitucionalidad y actualidad de una tendencia imparable

En los últimos años Estados Unidos ha experimentado el resurgir de la educación diferenciada por sexo con el apoyo de políticos de muy diferentes tendencias, educadores, padres, ciertos sectores feministas, así como asociaciones de defensa de los derechos de los afroamericanos y otras minorías. Esta tendencia, lenta pero implacable, entre los colegios públicos, como consecuencia de los excelentes resultados obtenidos, ha generado un encendido debate en ámbitos académicos, legales y políticos. La legislación norteamericana federal los motiva, incentiva y apoya, con ciertas condiciones relativas a garantizar la igualdad de oportunidades entre los sexos y la libertad de elección de los padres del modelo educativo que consideren apropiado para sus hijos. No obstante, la American Civil Liberties Union sigue mostrando su abierta oposición a estos centros educativos a los que considera discriminatorios. En este marco, hasta el momento, el Tribunal Supremo no ha encontrado en estos centros tacha alguna de inconstitucionalidad.In recent years the U.S. has experienced a resurgence of single-sex education with the support of politicians of very different tendencies, educators, parents, some feminist sectors and associations defending the rights of African Americans and other minorities. This trend, slowly but relentlessly, including public schools, has generated a heated debate in academic, legal and political fields. The federal U.S. legislation motivates, encourages and supports, with certain conditions relating to ensuring equality of opportunity between the sexes and freedom of parental choice of educational model they consider appropriate for their children. However, the American Civil Liberties Union continues to show his outspoken opposition to these schools to which they considered discriminatory. In this framework, so far, the Supreme Court has found these centers absolutely constitutional.

Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools - Comment

We re-examine the findings in Park, Behrman, and Choi (2012) regarding the causal effects of single-sex schooling on South Korean high school seniors’ performance in the college entrance examination and college attendance. The results with an extra year of data indicate that single-sex schools are more effective in improving test score than co-educational schools but not in raising four-year college attendance. We find no differences in academic outcomes of high school seniors between those in co-ed schools that use single-sex classrooms and those in co-ed schools that use co-ed classrooms. The effects of single-sex schooling are heterogeneous across school ownership types and gender, indicating some interaction effects of single-sex schooling with school and student characteristics. Thus, the positive effects of single-sex schooling on students’ academic outcomes are context-dependent.

Argumentation as a Strategy for Conceptual Learning of Dynamics

Researchers have emphasized the importance of promoting argumentation in science classrooms for various reasons. However, the study of argumentation is still a young field and more research needs to be carried out on the tools and pedagogical strategies that can assist teachers and students in both the construction and evaluation of scientific arguments. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of argumentation on students’ conceptual learning in dynamics. True-experimental design using quantitative research methods was carried out for the study. The participants of the study were tenth graders studying in two classes in an urban all-girls school. There were 26 female students in each class. Five argumentations promoted in the different contexts were embedded through the dynamics unit over a 10-week duration. The study concludes that engaging in the argumentative process that involves making claims, using data to support these claims, warranting the claims with scientific evidence, and using backings, rebuttals, and qualifiers to further support the reasoning, reinforces students’ understanding of science, and promotes conceptual change. The results suggest that argumentation should be employed during instruction as a way to enable conceptual learning.

Adolescent girls and leadership: the impact of confidence, competition, and failure

The research reported in this paper outlines the impact of confidence, competition, and failure in relation to adolescent girls and leadership behaviour. Focus groups were used as the method of data collection. These focus groups were facilitated electronically using Skype Instant Messaging. Participants were girls from single-sex schools; all were in their final year of schooling and currently held a leadership position. Students were located in schools across Australia, with one school located in South Africa. It was made apparent by this study that girls, at times, lacked confidence in themselves and their ability to enact leadership. Whilst it was acknowledged that girls had a highly competitive nature, especially in the academic and sporting domains, the word ‘doubt’ continuously resonated throughout student responses. Continued research into this domain will be important in ensuring that girls overcome this ‘doubt’ and have confidence in their capacity as leaders both within the school context and beyond.

“We are definitely the pioneers of this movement”: The Regis Lay Apostolate and the Origins of Postgraduate Volunteerism, 1949–1972

The Regis Lay Apostolate was a pioneering postgraduate lay volunteer program that grew out of the heyday of Catholic Action and the lay apostolate in the mid-century American church. The program operated out of Regis College, an all-female school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Weston, Massachusetts. Under the vision of Sister Mary John Sullivan, the program ran from 1949 through 1972 and sent approximately 225 Regis graduates to serve at Catholic mission schools domestically and internationally. Sister Mary John and the Regis volunteers played an important role in spearheading and shaping a larger movement of postgraduate Catholic lay volunteers. This phenomenon remains a vibrant force in American Catholicism today, but has gone largely unstudied. As such, exploring the Regis Lay Apostolate as well as the motivations and experiences of its volunteers provides an important first step towards understanding the emergence, development, growth, and impact of the Catholic postgraduate volunteer model, and where it fits within the greater narratives of both Catholic American history and twentieth-century American volunteerism.

Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools

Despite the voluminous literature on the potentials of single-sex schools, there is no consensus on the effects of single-sex schools because of student selection of school types. We exploit a unique feature of schooling in Seoul-the random assignment of students into single-sex versus coeducational high schools-to assess causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exam scores and college attendance. Our validation of the random assignment shows comparable socioeconomic backgrounds and prior academic achievement of students attending single-sex schools and coeducational schools, which increases the credibility of our causal estimates of single-sex school effects. The three-level hierarchical model shows that attending all-boys schools or all-girls schools, rather than coeducational schools, is significantly associated with higher average scores on Korean and English test scores. Applying the school district fixed-effects models, we find that single-sex schools produce a higher percentage of graduates who attended four-year colleges and a lower percentage of graduates who attended two-year junior colleges than do coeducational schools. The positive effects of single-sex schools remain substantial, even after we take into account various school-level variables, such as teacher quality, the student-teacher ratio, the proportion of students receiving lunch support, and whether the schools are public or private.

Single-sex Public Education for Low-income Youth of Color: A Critical Theoretical Review

There has been a widespread increase in single-sex public schooling in the U.S. following 2006 amendments to Title IX stipulated by the No Child Left Behind Act. As its inclusion in No Child Left Behind demonstrates, single-sex public schooling is viewed as a means to improve the educational experiences and performance of low-income youth of color. Yet little is known about the effects and efficacy of single-sex public education, particularly for these populations. This piece provides a critical theoretical review of this issue. It examines the three main rationales offered by proponents of single-sex education for low-income youth of color, who contend that it will 1) eliminate distraction by and harassment from the other sex; 2) address the different learning styles of girls and boys; and 3) remedy past inequities experienced by low-income populations of color by offering them opportunities afforded to more privileged youth. The review reveals no documented benefits to single-sex public education for low-income youth of color and a number of concerns. Thus, it recommends that policy makers reconsider devoting scarce resources to this practice, which ultimately has the potential to further marginalize low-income youth of color by reinforcing racialized stereotypes of hypersexuality, reproducing narrow and restrictive definitions of gender, invalidating the experiences and identities of GLBTQ youth, and diverting attention from the need to address poverty and racism.

Do Single-Sex Schools Enhance Students’ Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Outcomes?

Despite women’s significant improvement in educational attainment, underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) college majors persists in most countries. We address whether one particular institution – single-sex schools – may enhance female – or male – students’ STEM careers. Exploiting the unique setting in Korea where assignment to all-girls, all-boys or coeducational high schools is random, we move beyond associations to assess causal effects of single-sex schools. We use administrative data on national college entrance mathematics examination scores and a longitudinal survey of high school seniors that provide various STEM outcomes (mathematics and science interest and self-efficacy, expectations of a four-year college attendance and a STEM college major during the high school senior year, and actual attendance at a four-year college and choice of a STEM major two years after high school). We find significantly positive effects of all-boys schools consistently across different STEM outcomes, whereas the positive effect of all-girls schools is only found for mathematics scores.

Gender Disparities in Self-concept, Attitude and Perception in Physics and Chemistry

This study sought to determine disparities and associated factors in students’ performance in Physics and Chemistry at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) ex- amination in Nandi North District. The research objectives included determining differences in students’ performance at KCSE in Physics and Chemistry, self-concept (perception) of, attitude toward, and perception of the usefulness of Physics and Chemistry as subjects. Students were classified accord- ing to gender, using a causal-comparative design. Majority of the students aged between 15 and 19 years. Three ques- tionnaires were administered to the form four students, and KCSE results for the years 2000 – 2004 were obtained from the District Education Office. These were analyzed using de- scriptive and inferential statistics. We concluded that boys reflected better academic achievement as compared to the girls in both physics and chemistry. The boys and girls had comparable self-concept in physics. The girls had a higher self-concept in chemistry than the boys. This may suggest that self-concept does not influence performance in chemistry since boys still out-performed the girls in spite of the girls’ higher self-concept. With regard to attitude towards chemistry and physics, the boys and girls had the same attitude, mixed and single-sex school students had comparable attitude to- wards physics and chemistry. An intervention regarding the level of preparedness of primary school pupils in dealing with the challenges of learning Physics and Chemistry at sec- ondary is recommended.

Book Review: Masculinities and Other Hopeless Causes at an All-Boys Catholic School

Book Review: Masculinities and Other Hopeless Causes at an All-Boys Catholic School

The Relationship Between Teachers’ Thinking Styles And Girl Students’ Spiritual Intelligence (SI) In Tehran’s High Schools

The main goal of this study is to examine the relationship between teachers’ thinking styles and girl students’ Spiritual Intelligence (SI) in Tehran’s high schools. The population included all 155859 students and 12571 teachers in Tehran’s girl high schools. According to “Morgan table” 384 students and 375 teachers were selected using cluster random sampling method. Research tools were two standardized questionnaires: Emren &amp; Demir’s (2007) Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire and Sternberg’s thinking style inventory. Their validity indexes were evaluated by Mehrjou (2009). The reliability of the instruments was also calculated using Alpha Cronbach as 0.89 and 0.81 respectively. The research results revealed that teachers used a high level of executive and legislative thinking styles and a medium use of judicial style. There was also a negative relationship between executive style and problem solving. There was no meaningful relationship between executive thinking style and self-awareness consciousness, being holistic and grace. A negative relationship between legislative style and grace was also observed. However, there wasn’t a meaningful relation between this thinking style and problem solving. However, no positive relationship between this thinking style and grace was observed. Keywords - thinking styles, executive, legislative, judicial thinking, spiritual intelligence

Ginásio São Bernardo: a construção de masculinidades (1946-1968)

Research on gender relations in Bahia have been developing since the 1970’s, including in the field of history. However, these studies have focused primarily on women, resulting in a lack of analyses of the processes of construction of masculinities. This article aims at presenting the results of the research, “Sao Bernardo School: the construction of masculinities (1946-1968)”. This research took a qualitative approach to the study of masculinity, analyzing school documents and testimonies from a total of 11 interviews with former students and faculty members, based on the ral History as methodology. The study sought to verify how the education offered to students in this all-boys boarding school inscribed gender images on the interns, such as to mold them according to the masculine profile socially desired by the institution as well as by the local community at large.