The ‘real world’ preparation just doesn’t hold water with me. I went to a woman’s college. College is supposed to be the most intensive training for ‘real life’ when it comes to formal schooling, and I spent the academic portion of it in a single-sex environment. I see no evidence that I have trouble ‘dealing with men’ in the work world or otherwise. Same seems to be true of the alumnae of my college and the other women’s college alums I’ve met.
That’s why I have a hard time believing that single-sex education at the elementary and secondary level is going to handicap students in the future to the degree that some of you allege. Yes, students will miss out on some key perspectives, and they will fail to get some experience in dealing with the opposite sex, but many believe the benefits far outweigh those drawbacks.
I think the problem with this is that I would guess a large portion of the people at an all-women’s college went to coed high schools. I think (though not having had any experience with this I could easily be wrong) that there’s probably a significant difference between a single-sex middle school/high school and a single-sex college.
I heard the same report and beagledave has described it very well. I hunted and could not find that segment, but found two others they have done, mostly about girls and single sex schools. You can listen to these here. The link didn’t work exactly like it should, so enter “single sex schools” when you get there and that should work.
I frankly think that “shy girls” need to be encouraged at the earliest age possible to become confident in the presence of men. Good mentor teachers and support is a far better method to my mind than segregation. They need to be prepared for the mixed workplace they will face when they finish school.