Providing current research to our members is a strategic priority for the Alliance. We deliver access to valuable resources and anaylsis of the latest research findings relevant to educators of girls. Subscription-only academic research articles, as well as open access articles and reports by governments, universities and major organisations are summarised for members, highlighting themes and topics of particular relevance to the education of girls, including academic performance, mental health, leadership, neuroscience, single-sex education, STEM, wellbeing, and work and careers.
With more than 500 research abstracts, including over 160 related to single-sex education, many of which summarise research from subscription-only academic journals, the Alliance Research Library provides an unparalleled source of information on single-sex education for girls.
Library access and membership:
Free library membership and access is available for all staff of Alliance member schools, simply complete the access request form to receive your personalised login.
Annual library subscription for non-Alliance members costs AUD550
(English) An international review found that cultural perceptions, economic and institutional resources and sources of information influenced the experience of menstruation and management. Many young girls still experience shame and secrecy around the concept of menstruation and research confirmed that ‘developed’ nations like Australia are not immune to the shame and taboo that surrounds menstruation.
(English) Recent research by UK-based researchers explored the impact of parent and carer’s attitudes and beliefs on children’s participation in physics. While no causal relationship between ‘parental attitudes and student outcomes’ was found, the authors did conclude that parent beliefs about their child’s likeliness to get a Physics A-level or work in a physics-related field has the potential to impact girls’ self-concept.
(English) Sweden has been recognised for its high levels of gender equity, but still has highly segregated labour markets. This same attitude is reflected in university level education, but these findings indicate that attitudes towards mathematics in lower secondary are less gendered. This case study seeks to better understand how gendered conceptions of mathematics-related employment develop.
(English) Schuster et al. (2022) found that educators’ gender stereotypes led to a stereotype-contrasting grading bias. If gender bias was present, markers compensated by being more generous, leading to discrepancies in the consistency of teacher judgement.
(English) Chapman (2022) draws on feminist post-structuralism and queer theory to “examine Australian early childhood educators’ views on children’s gender identity development, and the content on gender in the Australian Government’s Early Years Learning Framework”.
(English) COVID-19 impacted students’ levels of physical activity, regardless of gender. After returning to school following extended periods of lockdown, “girls engaged in significantly less moderate-to-vigorous” physical activity after returning to school when compared to boys. Researchers have identified upper secondary school female students as an at-risk group, requiring ‘specific COVID-recovery intervention’.
(English) Low numbers of women in key leadership roles have been popularly addressed through interventions that “stimulate girls’ leadership aspirations through the public pedagogy of role models”. Recent research suggests that existing approaches which use celebrities and women in leadership positions as role models do not challenge the “traditionally individualist, authoritarian and masculine” themes present in frameworks of leadership.
Research in Wales has suggested that the physical activity of girls can decline more than that of boys as they reach adolescence. A ‘primary school-based community linked role-model programme’ draws on evidence that suggests role models could hold a crucial role as an inspiring influence to encourage girls to be (and remain) physically active.
(English) Nuanced understanding of cognitive behavioural interventions and shift away from “traditional approaches” deliver better interventions to female school students experiencing sub-clinical depression. Researchers say tailor treatment to diagnoses and severity of symptoms, citing those students who require more sustained treatment, and also those who spontaneously recover as evidence for the inappropriateness of a one-size-fits-all approach.