I think this section of the National Coalition of Girls Schools website has some great info as well: https://www.ncgs.org/advocacy/why-girls-schools/
My D is an alum of the same school that @kschretz ‘s D attends. She initially wanted only a coed BS, but now is very glad she decided to attend an all-girls’. She ended up with a fabulous education and had a wonderful STEM mentor there. One of the reasons she chose her college was the effort that the (female) college president made to ensure the school would be at a 50/50 ratio within a handful of years by offering generous scholarships to qualified female applicants. She had no interest in attending anything but a coed college, but also didn’t want a STEM school where the ratio was 70M/30F, as were some of the schools we visited.
@Calliemomofgirls Thank you for starting this discussion and the information you have shared. I am also thankful to all others who have shared their anecdotes and experiences. I have been following this thread because DD is interested in STEM and medicine and we will be applying to all-girls boarding schools. I would like to share information about some great documentaries we have watched.
The most recent one is called Picture a Scientist and it tracks the journeys of three women, biologist Nancy Hopkins, chemist Raychelle Burks, and geologist Jane Willenbring. They recount their battles with gender inequity in academic science. You may recognize some of these names from the MIT discrimination case and most recently the BU firing of a professor after sexual harrassment charges. It will be motivating for young girls to watch this documentary which was an official selection of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.
Although the focus for this discussion has been on all-girls, as a parent of color, I am also interested in issues surrounding girls of color. A few years ago we watched the documentary Changing the Face of Medicine by Crystal Emery. It highlights the struggles of black women in medicine. This was another motivating film, and the theme here was “you can’t be what you can’t see” and now black girls can see themselves as doctors.
I’ve already shared my daughter’s all girls experience with @Calliemomofgirls but I’m chiming in for others who may be curious. I am not an expert, and only offer personal experience but we could not be happy with our choice for our daughter to attend an all girls school.
My daughter started a girls school as a 9th grader this year and the boost in her confidence and happiness is all we could have hoped for. She struggled socially in middle school, and felt shy speaking up in class and hesitated to try new things. All has changed for the best!
My girls loves the all girl environment. She feels confident to be herself, with no makeup, no drama. She is making real friendships with a diverse group of girls who are so silly and fun together. The way the girls have fun together without trying to impress or be “cool” is refreshing. She ran for class office, to our great shock! - and won! In teacher conferences we heard from all of them that she is an active participant in class discussion. She tried a new sport and just loves it and is supported by her team in ways she did not experience at her coed middle school. She is happier than she has been in years.
She has great female mentors, from administrators, to coaches, to department heads, to student prefects. She is encouraged to lead. She feels like part of a community. She does not miss boys, even though previously some of her best friends were boys . . . Boys she let speak up in class instead of speaking her own ideas. Now she is learning confidence in her own voice and her own choices.
We are only two months in, and it’s impossible to know how much of her new confidence is attributable to the all girls environment, but what we do know is she is happy.
Girls schools are not for everyone, of course, but we are so happy with the choice for our daughter
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