The Benefits of Attending a Girls' School:
What the Research Shows

Girls' Schools & Their Effect on Career Aspirations

Researcher Cary M. Watson of Stanford University examined the career aspirations of adolescent girls, in relation to academic achievement level, grade, and single-sex school environment. (Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, May 2002)

She wrote: "Girls at all levels of achievement in the single-sex schools received a benefit from the single-sex school environment in terms of heightened career aspirations, an effect unprecedented in any other portion of our study. Clearly, girls in single-sex schools exhibit a belief in their talent and potential that is measurable."

Surveys of girls' school alumnae bear Professor Watson's findings out. A 2005 study conducted for NCGS by the Goodman Research Group,  The Girls' School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools, revealed that:

•  95% of recent graduates said that having a career and profession was very or extremely important to them
•  78% added that it was very or extremely important that they hold leadership positions in their professional lives as well
•  73% also said that it was very or extremely important that they win recognition for their career successes, community service, and volunteer activities

The vast majority of NCGS girls' school alumnae view having a rewarding career or profession as an integral part of their lives. These are young women who have learned to set high goals for themselves, and to give it their all in attaining them.

What the Research Shows »

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