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RESEARCH PRODUCT

A Hidden Curriculum? Coeducation and Gender Identity

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description

Different subjects, in particular, are shown to be gendered, and it is a feet that children invest and excel in subject matters in accordance with their sex. Findings cm the reinforcement of gender stereotypes are more convergent with studies showing much more clear-cut differences in attitude between boys and girls in mixed groups. Coeducation holds back intellectual and personal development because it gives particular cogency to the cognitive processes of gender categorisation not only of fields and professions, but also of one's self and of others. Most importantly, probably, is the socialisation process that takes place simply through the cohabitation of the two groups, with their supposedly clearcut, asymmetrical characteristics, and which leads boys and girls to channel their investments and behaviour in ways corresponding to their gender. A series of studies on the effects of mixed-sex groups on gender identity demonstrates the sensitivity of gender to the presence of both sexes.