The Long-Run Causal Effects of Single-Sex High Schools on Adult Outcomes: Survey and Experiments

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed research focuses on the roles of an educational institution – single-sex schools (vs. coeducational schools)– in affecting gender differences in adult attitudes toward gender and family as well as demographic and socioeconomic life-course outcomes. A unique policy in a large city until 2009 required random assignment of middle-school graduates to high schools regardless of whether schools were single-sex or coeducational, and public or private. This policy provides an excellent opportunity to estimate causal effects of single-sex schools, compared to most other contexts where students or their families typically select single-sex vs. coeducational schools and thus it is challenging to draw causal inferences on the impacts of single-sex schools. Establishing whether single-sex schooling experiences affect gender-related attitudes and life-course outcomes can inform the design of school environments conducive to gender equality in the broader society. This project is supported by the Sociology Program and the Science of Broadening Participation Program. The project assesses whether single-sex high school experiences have long-run effects on individuals’ gender and family attitudes, attitudes toward competition, trust, and reciprocity, and major demographic and socioeconomic outcomes in their 30s and 40s. Previous studies by the research team and others have examined the impact of the random high-school assignment on short-term educational outcomes. This extends the research to longer-run effects into middle adulthood. In order to have data to assess long-run causal effects of single-sex schools on three sets of outcomes (attitudes, demographic, and socioeconomic outcomes), an online survey is conducted to collect a variety of information on men and women in the ages 33-52 at the time of the survey in 2023-24 who graduated from high schools during the random assignment regime. In addition to traditional survey questions to measure individuals’ attitudes toward gender, family, competition, trust, and reciprocity, vignettes and behavioral experiments also are included in the online survey. This design allows the team to capture attitudinal dimensions that are considered difficult to measure with traditional survey questions and to compare insights from survey experiments and traditional survey questions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.