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Very few people would argue in favor of single-sex education for everyone. However, while single-sex education certainly has its potential downsides, there are also a number of arguments that can be made in favor of it.

One argument in favor of single-sex education is that boys and girls develop at different rates during youth and adolescence. Thus, separating classrooms by sex could ensure that each group is learning at an appropriate pace. In addition, one Harvard study found that single-sex education can improve the performance of female students in subjects such as mathematics. Because STEM is a male-dominated field, girls who study scientific and mathematical subjects in a solely female environment can learn that there is a place for women in STEM, too.

A common argument against single-sex education is that students do not learn how to socialize with the opposite sex. My school eliminated that problem. I went to a coeducational high school where the majority of classes were separated by sex; we ate lunch and participated in clubs with the boys. Yet, my female classmates and I benefited from the single-sex classroom environment. We felt comfortable taking risks in a classroom where we knew we were safe and among friends. We never had to justify our presence in the classroom by proving our intelligence to one another. We all knew we belonged. As a class of 20 girls, we puzzled our way through quantum physics and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and never thought once about which subject was better “suited” to girls. Then, at lunchtime, we sat with the boys in the other class and talked about what was going on in our lives.

While single-sex education is not a good fit for everyone, I benefited from it and am grateful for it.