WHAT DO GIRLS REALLY THINK?

In October 2022, the GDST published the Girls’ Futures Report, pioneering research with 5000 girls from state, independent and academies across England and Wales, into their hopes, fears and perceptions of the future.

Dr Kevin Stannard, the GDST’s Director of Innovation and Learning, explains how the findings reveal girls-only education to be an important tool in levelling the playing field.

150 years ago, at a time when Victorian society saw girls’ education as a low priority, our four pioneering founders created the GDST to achieve equal opportunities for girls across the UK. As we mark the GDST’s significant anniversary, we can be proud that equality has come a long way and that the GDST has played a role in that. But there is still a lot to do. With this in mind, the GDST commissioned a landmark piece of research, the Girls’ Futures Report, to find out what girls and young women feel about the future: their hopes, their fears and their perceptions of the wider world, so that we can understand how we can help them achieve their ambitions and overcome the challenges that still stand in their way.

The Girls Futures Report, which is based on the survey of non-GDST girls, flags important findings about the perceptions of girls and young women today. They want to lead, but they see leadership as a by-product of working towards the greater good, rather than a personal goal in itself; they have identified practical skills - such as knowing how to manage their own finances - as gaps in their education that need to be filled; and they experience a significant dip in confidence at the age of 14, which does not recover by the time that they leave school.

Of all our findings, the way girls responded to questions about confidence – in the future, and their place in it – was most troubling, significantly more so than those of the boys in our control sample.

The doubts they feel and the challenges they experience limit their expectations of the world of work and how prepared they feel to tackle life after school, as well as their confidence in taking risks and in challenging gender stereotypes. A young person’s lack of confidence forms a barrier to their future success, so the report is another red flag that equality of opportunity, starting at an early age, remains a work in progress.

It is our belief that gender differences in attitudes and perceptions among young people are substantial and persistent, but they are not preordained. This is clear when you compare the national sample of girls with a parallel survey that we took of GDST pupils - what we term the GDST Difference. In their responses to the survey questions, GDST girls reported similar confidence levels to boys, and significantly fewer girls in GDST schools, compared to non-GDST girls, said they felt held back from certain subjects or hobbies on account of their gender.

Because they are educated in girlsonly environments, GDST girls are more confident, more self-assured, more politically aware, more empowered, better able to pursue their ambitions, and unhindered by their gender. They are more comfortable taking risks, more willing to embrace flexible careers and vitally, they are more confident not just to take on leadership roles, but to define the kind of leader they want to be.

Our research Why (and How) Girls Thrive in Girls-Only Schools (updated in August 2022) has found that girls’ schools work because they are single sex by design, not by accident. Everything is calibrated to create an empowering environment, including Classroom (the interactions between teacher and learners), Curriculum (subject choice; engagement in sport), and Culture (role models; leadership roles). The proof that this approach works can be found in the survey answers given to us by GDST girls in our 150th year: the environment they learn in fosters higher academic achievement, greater diversity of subject choice, stronger self-confidence and resilience and enhanced career progression.

Our founders’ vision remains strong. Co-ed schools are co-ed by accident. Girls’ schools are girls’ schools by design. And they work.

Blackheath High School is delighted to announce the appointment of Natalie Argile as its new Head. Natalie joined Blackheath High in 2015 as Assistant Head and Chemistry teacher, and she has been Acting Head since September 2022.

Continuing the legacy of the pioneering women who founded the school as part of the GDST in 1880, Natalie’s leadership will focus on amplifying the benefits of a girlsonly setting. She is passionate about defying gender stereotypes, ensuring that every subject is a girls’ subject in a world where women are often underrepresented, particularly in STEM.

Natalie says, “I am thrilled to be appointed as the new Head of Blackheath High and am passionate about supporting each and every one of our students. We want girls to leave at age 18 ready to face life with courage, intellectual flexibility and emotional resilience, and to succeed whatever their chosen path.”

Sustainability is also high on Natalie's agenda. With this, Blackheath High’s second Women in Leadership Conference in March focused on social, economic and environmental sustainability, with a raft of external experts, a series of action-led workshops and a Manifesto for Change.

Bromley High School has started 2023 celebrating its 140th birthday with a whole school House Afternoon Tea with guest alumnae Saffron, Serena, Danielle and Tara.

Just one of a series of exciting events planned for the year, including a gala concert at the Royal Academy of Music and a dedicated Alumnae Afternoon Tea later this summer, the House Tea involved all pupils dressing in their house colours, and enjoying cake and milkshakes together.