Coolaboola's Comments
I was educated in a single-sex (convent) school as were my sisters and mother and her mother (etc.!) My husband was educated in a single-sex (Christian Brothers) school. As was my father. Single sex schools are the norm still here in Ireland.
I left the convent school in July 1992 and started studying engineering in September 1992 aged 17. I went from an almost exculsively female environment to an almost exclusively male environment. I survived :) I qualified as a mechanical engineer at 21 and stayed on at university to conduct research and earned a Masters in Engineering Science two years later. I've since worked happily in a male-dominated industry.
My younger sister followed me into engineering and has since earned a doctorate in electrical engineering and now lectures in the subject.
I can't tell you if and how my life and education might have turned out differently had I been educated in a mixed sex school but I think that being educated in a single sex school may have afforded some advantages. The main advantage as I would see it is the opportunity, particularly in adolescence, to get to know and grow yourself without the pressures and distractions obviously present in a mixed sex environment. I'm sure eductation in a mixed sex environment offers many advantages over the single-sex environment but I think we shouldn't be too quick to dismiss the notion than the single-sex environment can offer its own advantages too.
I left the convent school in July 1992 and started studying engineering in September 1992 aged 17. I went from an almost exculsively female environment to an almost exclusively male environment. I survived :) I qualified as a mechanical engineer at 21 and stayed on at university to conduct research and earned a Masters in Engineering Science two years later. I've since worked happily in a male-dominated industry.
My younger sister followed me into engineering and has since earned a doctorate in electrical engineering and now lectures in the subject.
I can't tell you if and how my life and education might have turned out differently had I been educated in a mixed sex school but I think that being educated in a single sex school may have afforded some advantages. The main advantage as I would see it is the opportunity, particularly in adolescence, to get to know and grow yourself without the pressures and distractions obviously present in a mixed sex environment. I'm sure eductation in a mixed sex environment offers many advantages over the single-sex environment but I think we shouldn't be too quick to dismiss the notion than the single-sex environment can offer its own advantages too.
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In Ireland blood donors are offered Guinness to fortify them after a blood donation (as well as the usual snacks, soft drinks, etc)
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(Phonetically it's pronounced 'Gu maymeed byo egg on am shu areesh'... sort of!)