Abstract
Of the various rationales for sex-segregated education, the claim that boys and girls should be taught in separate classrooms
because their brains differ is arguably the weakest. Existing neuroscience research has identified few reliable differences
between boys’ and girls’ brains relevant to learning or education. And yet, prominent single-sex school advocates have convinced
many parents and teachers that there exist profound differences between the “male brain” and “female brain” which support
the ubiquitous, but equally unfounded belief that “boys and girls learn differently” (Gurian et al. 2001; Sax 2005b; James 2007, 2009; Kaufmann 2007). Educators who cite brain or hormonal research as evidence for boys’ and girls’ different pedagogical needs are often misusing
or misconstruing a small number of studies, when the complete data are far more equivocal and of doubtful relevance to classroom
instruction. Gender differences in hearing, vision, and autonomic nervous function are modest, with large overlap between
boys’ and girls’ measures. Similarly, studies of the neural basis of learning do not support the premise that boys and girls
master reading, calculation, or other academic skills differently. Boys and girls have differing interests, but their basic
cognitive, emotional and self-regulatory abilities vary far more within each gender than between the average boy and girl.
Beyond the issue of scientific misrepresentation, the very logic of segregating children based on inherent anatomical or physiological
traits runs counter to the purpose and principles of education.
because their brains differ is arguably the weakest. Existing neuroscience research has identified few reliable differences
between boys’ and girls’ brains relevant to learning or education. And yet, prominent single-sex school advocates have convinced
many parents and teachers that there exist profound differences between the “male brain” and “female brain” which support
the ubiquitous, but equally unfounded belief that “boys and girls learn differently” (Gurian et al. 2001; Sax 2005b; James 2007, 2009; Kaufmann 2007). Educators who cite brain or hormonal research as evidence for boys’ and girls’ different pedagogical needs are often misusing
or misconstruing a small number of studies, when the complete data are far more equivocal and of doubtful relevance to classroom
instruction. Gender differences in hearing, vision, and autonomic nervous function are modest, with large overlap between
boys’ and girls’ measures. Similarly, studies of the neural basis of learning do not support the premise that boys and girls
master reading, calculation, or other academic skills differently. Boys and girls have differing interests, but their basic
cognitive, emotional and self-regulatory abilities vary far more within each gender than between the average boy and girl.
Beyond the issue of scientific misrepresentation, the very logic of segregating children based on inherent anatomical or physiological
traits runs counter to the purpose and principles of education.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Article
- Pages 1-19
- DOI 10.1007/s11199-011-0037-y
- Authors
- Lise Eliot, Department of Neuroscience, The Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, 3333 Green Bay Rd., North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
- Journal Sex Roles
- Online ISSN 1573-2762
- Print ISSN 0360-0025