I like drawing, but that doesn’t mean I do it well.
So I wasn’t too offended when my friend challenged me to
draw a bicycle and found I couldn’t, but then she said,
“See, that’s because you’re a girl.”
She didn’t say this in a condescending or defeated way,
but rather matter-of-factly.
“Girls just can’t think mechanically like guys
can,” she said.
Whether males and females truly do think and learn differently
is a long-standing contention.
With the recent amendments of Title IX of the Education
Amendments (1972), public schools can devote classes, or even the
entire school, to one sex.
Previously under Title IX, federally funded schools had to
prevent sex discrimination and were only allowed to offer
single-sex education in limited cases such as sex education and
physical education.
Researchers claim that single sex education is beneficial,
especially for females, who perform academically higher in these
environments, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s
research compilations.
According to Linda Sax, associate professor in residence at the
UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies,
eliminating intimidation from males in classrooms can nurture
higher self-confidence among female students in single-sex
settings.
But gender differences are essential in creating a more diverse
learning environment.
For instance, different perspectives from opposite sexes would
be missing in class discussions. How would females hear the male
perspective when discussing the women’s rights movement?
Given these differences between the sexes, it’s not too
farfetched to say that single-sex education would lead to the
ultimate cardinal sin in education ““ limiting diversity.
Advocates suggest that because males and females process
information differently, they essentially have different mindsets
““ and thus cannot learn together.
Researchers contend that males tend to value competition, but
females collaborate.
Then I suppose we should also segregate education based on race
and ethnicity.
Different cultures and backgrounds breed different experiences
and ways of thinking, right? So some students might be
(dis)advantaged compared to others.
Heck, it’s impossible to teach a class of students who may
have different skill levels, strengths and weaknesses ““
because that just never happens in our school systems.
Once the same basis of argument moves from sex to racial/ethnic
lines, the claim becomes absurd.
“Separate but equal,” anyone?
Speaking of equality, deviation from education equity is
possible.
In 1997, California launched 12 experimental single-sex
schools.
However, “rather than finding a setting that was
emancipatory … teachers’ constructions of gender shaped
curriculum, instruction and discipline in ways that often
reinforced of gender stereotypes,” states a study conducted
by the University of Toronto, UC San Diego and UC Berkeley.
Though the schools were inadequately funded and managed, the
study reveals that unequal and stereotypical treatment according to
sex is not difficult to achieve.
But distractions from the opposite sex among teens with raging
hormones prevent academic potentials, proponents say.
Michael Moskovitz, a fourth-year physiological science student
who attended an all-boys school, said it was easier to focus
because “the daily worrying about what this girl or that girl
thinks of you doesn’t happen.”
However, single-sex education fails to look at the broader
picture of sexuality. Where would gay students benefit from this?
Not all girls are distracted by guys and vice versa.
Single-sex education categorizes male and female into convenient
stereotypes, and removes educational design from reality.
It also fails to address future social consequences between men
and women.
“When I started UCLA, it was hard to incorporate myself
into the (opposite sex) social atmosphere again. … It was
difficult to speak to guys just as friends, because I didn’t
have that in high school,” said April Hudson, a fourth-year
psychology student and former attendee of an all-girls school .
Under the protective walls of single-sex education ““ where
differences between the sexes are not only acknowledged, but
perpetuated ““ how can the sexes overcome these differences
and adapt to each other?
Drawing a bicycle is challenging, but learning to ride it was an
even bigger task: falling, scraping, bruising. But we adjust to
these obstacles to master the art of bike-riding.
And in the same way, I will learn to draw a bicycle ““
mechanically challenged female or not.
If you fit the gender stereotype, e-mail Yoo at
jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.