Education

Mental Toughness and the pandemic By Jane Gandee, Headmistress at St Swithun’s in Winchester

Last week AQR International, which specialises in helping organisations optimise people performance, updated its 2017 research into Mental Toughness with a new meta-analysis of data collected during the pandemic. The findings show that girls in single-sex schools which are part of the Girls’ Schools Association (as St Swithun’s proudly is) are generally more confident and emotionally in control than girls in co-educational schools. The research also indicates, not surprisingly, that girls who were more mentally tough before had an advantage in dealing with the pandemic.

At St Swithun’s, we are not surprised by these findings. Girls in single-sex schools like ours grow up without encountering gender stereotyping, at least during their education. This has a multitude of benefits which the girls carry with them into the outside world and throughout their adult life.

One benefit relates to subject choices. Our students learn that all subjects are open to them and that they are just as likely to be successful in maths and physics as they are in art or English. They appreciate that success is about acquiring the right skills and attitude rather than being male or female. Unbelievably, there are some co-ed schools in which not a single girl studies physics, apparently because there still exist stereotypes suggesting that physics is not suitable for girls.

Research also shows that girls in single sex environments are more likely to continue with sport which is linked to a positive body image, a healthy relationship with food and good mental health. The absence of boys has a further plus in that the girls here tend to grow up a little more slowly. They can unselfconsciously have fun without worrying about impressing anyone.

Why does mental toughness matter? Because it correlates with ambition, adaptability to change, ability to cope with stress, achievement and well-being. Indeed, other studies have shown precisely that girls educated in single-sex schools are more likely to take risks in the world of work such as asking for a pay rise or applying for a promotion.

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