[ Home ] [ The series ] [ Yesterday and today ] [ Criticising education ] [ School report ] [ What it was like ] [ Find out more ] [ Graphical version of site ]

That'll Teach 'Em : Yesterday and today


Gender differences

The 1950s

Most schools are single sex. Even extra-curricular co-operation is rare.

The range of sports activities is limited, and each is clearly defined as either a boys' game (rugby, football, cricket) or a girls' game (netball, rounders).

Theoretically girls have equal access to higher education. However, to get into university, girls must get higher marks than boys (although this isn't revealed until many years later).

In addition, the very unequal opportunities in the workplace have much influence on whether girls choose academic subjects and whether they decide to go on to sixth form and university.


Today

Despite the expectation - in the 1960s and '70s - of a total transformation to co-education, there has been something of a retreat. Although the majority of state schools remain co-educational, single-sex education is now quite popular, especially for girls. There have also been experiments in separating girls and boys for exam classes in some co-educational schools.

The gains in equal opportunities have produced soaring confidence in today's female students, who now generally outperform the boys at GCSE and A-level.

[ Exam History]  [ Subjects studied]  [ Discipline]  [ Gender differences]  [ Religion in school]