The Gender Gap in Advanced Math and Science Course Taking: Does Same-Sex Education Make A Difference?

A large representative sample (N = 20,816) of Israeli Jewish high school students served to explore differences between coeducational and same-sex schools in advanced math and science courses. Data were obtained from the Israeli population census of 1995 and from the Israeli Ministry of Education. Results from logistic regressions suggest that girls at all-female state religious schools did not differ from girls at coeducational state schools in placement in advanced math, physics and biology courses. But girls at all-female religious schools took advanced computer science courses at a much higher rate than girls at coeducational schools. This finding is attributed to a different curricular policy and not directly to the all-female environment.