Single-sex schools key for girls’ confidence

Girls are more likely to match boys in confidence if they attend a single-sex school, research shows.

Some girls start to believe they cannot be as clever or brilliant as boys from as young as 6 but a study has found girls who go to single-sex schools do not have this crisis of confidence.

Researchers looked at 100 000 youngsters aged 12 to 17 in single-sex schools and found no significant difference between the boys and girls.

Previous studies have found girls are less confident than boys, which has been blamed for the lack of women in careers such as science and technology.

But the latest results suggest girls who are kept separate from boys may not start to believe they are inferior.

Dr Terry Fitzsimmons, who led the study from the University of Queensland in Australia, said: “We hope our research will empower caregivers and teachers to inspire confidence and purpose in young adults.”