CO-EDUCATION

co-education as an adminis- trative procedure of assembling the two sexes in the same educa- tional institution for purposes of instruction under like auspices has made steady progress since 1910. this has been due to a number of causes. women have taken an ever-increasing share in commercial and industrial activities and as a result have demanded and secured opportunities for training that fits them for these activities. economic pressure has operated to con- solidate the educational activities of communities, especially where communities are small. it was undoubtedly the frontier conditions in the middle and western sections of the united states which led to the widespread establishment in these regions of co-educational schools. like economic limitations are leading to the establishment of co- educational schools in the countries of europe where segregation was common in the past. further, there is appearing every- where in the world, especially in the occident, a disposition to accept social equality between the sexes. this has broken down ‘the barriers in schools as well as in other institutions. social freedom was greatly promoted by the world war, during and after which women took over many forms of industrial and professional service which earlier had been monopolised by men. the social consequences of this radical change are obvious. internal separation.—while administrative co-education has been steadily increasing in europe and the united states, a tendency has appeared toward separation of the sexes within co-educational institutions. women and girls, having secured the right to enjoy educational opportunities equal to those offered to men and boys, are now beginning to specialise more than ever before and are found in increasing numbers in classes where they are pursuing courses regarded by them as appropriate to their sex, even though these courses are administratively con- ducted by an institution that provides instruction also for men and boys. co-education being administratively established, differentiation in electives is producing a new type of segregation. statistics.—the high school of the united states is very gen- erally committed to the policy of co-education. the extent to which the high schools of the united states are co-educational is shown by the fact that in 1910 there were only 34 public high schools exclusively for boys and 26 for girls. the corresponding figures for 1920 and 1922 are 39 and 37 special schools for boys, 37 and 42 for girls. the situation with regard to private high schools is somewhat different as the following figures show: number of private high schools of vartous types in the united staies at different pertods for boys only for girls only co-educational . when both private and public schools are considered, it is evident that the secondary schools of the united states are in the main co-educational. the aggregate attendance of girls is greater than that of boys in both groups of schools according to the latest statistics. public high schools private high schools 1922 1920 1,033,739| 822,967 | 398,525] 100,116) 84,222 | 55,474 1,195,668 | 1,034,188 | 516,536] 116,406] 99,931 | 61,926 boys . girls . girls in general have somewhat greater leisure and conse- quently a larger opportunity to secure a high-school education than boys have. subjects chosen.—the two sexes do not take advantage in equal degree of the various elective opportunities offered to them. the process of distribution of the pupils of the two sexes is taking place along lines which comport with their social and occupational interests. that this is a progressive tendency is shown by such facts as that in 1910, 3°78% of the pupils in high school elected home economics, while in 1922, 14-29 % registered co-education inthis subject. during the academic year 1921-2 the registration in certain selected subjects was as follows:— girls ilome economics . ; : ) 2572 304,982 biology ; : : : ; 88,955 100,333 agriculture ; : 75,859 351383 physics : 112,747 79,633 algebra 444,499 421,016 lrigonometry 273733 8,197 institutional vartation of choice-—the fact that separation of the sexes is going on along lines of special interests is further shown by an examination of the registrations in different types of institutions. the normal schools and teachers’ colleges of the country are professional schools devoted chiefly to the prepara- tion of teachers for elementary schools. the student body in these schools is very largely made up of women, although men are admitted. the facts are as follows:— registration in normal courses in american normal schools and teachers’ colleges at various periods 1921-22 i91i9-20 iqi4-15 1909-10 men 32,694 19,110 19,978 19,746 women 161,840 116,325 80,347 68,815 there is a very marked departure here from complete co-educa- tion in the administrative sense. corresponding figures from the other professional schools show a preponderance of men. in schools of law, medicine and engincering, women constitute but 2 to 5% of the total registration. the separation of the sexes by subjects of instruction rather than by institutions is a natural consummation of the movement for complete equality of educational opportunity. in the united states the vigorous discussions of the wisdom of co-education which were carried on during the first five years of this century closed the theoretical argument. after those discussions it was conceded that women shall have an education equal to that offered to men and the right to choose their subjects. the latter right to natural election is now being exercised in increasing measure with the results noted. general conditions.—so far as the rest of the world is con- cerned, women have been conceded the right to attend universi- ties in all european and colonial countries and they have taken advantage of this right on a large scale. co-education in the elementary schools has been common in small communities in all countries. it has also been practised in an increasing measure in larger communities in the northern countries of europe and in australia and south africa. it has been, and is still, avoided in france, italy, spain and south america wherever communities are large enough to support separate schools. in the secondary schools of countries other than the united states, co-education is less common than in the clemenary schools and the universities. the history of secondary education in europe and in countries which have borrowed their educa- tional systems from europe, inhibits the adoption of a policy of co-education. girls did not enjoy opportunities of secondary education in former generations except as this was administered in the strict privacy of the home. even now, when the right of higher education is generally conceded, there is reluctance to disturb the traditions of the secondary schools which were estab- lished for boys. the conservatism of tradition shows some signs of weakening. in the new republics of europe co-education in secondary schools is commonly practised. in newer countries on other continents it is not uncommon. the orient. the statements made above do not apply to the orient. the oriental attitude on the matter of the social and economic status of women is in general too fixed to be overcome even when the examples of america and europe are fully under- stood. mission schools and native schools in oriental countries maintain in general a strict separation of the sexes, except in a few of the lowest primary schools. furthermore, the extent to which girls receive any education is very limited. coffee—coinage separate institutions.—the discussion of co-education would not be complete without explicit reference to the fact that, along with the general tendency to organise public education on a co- educational basis, there is still a disposition in some quarters to favour separate institutions for the two sexes. the presence of such a disposition is seen in the large registrations in the women’s colleges and in the relatively few surviving men’s colleges in the united states. the older foundations in england allow women to attend lecture courses given by men and primarily organised for men. these survivals of an earlier type of educational sep- aration are usually favoured by those communities and social classes which are beyond the reach of the economic motives which dictate the consolidation of educational opportunities. as long as the two sexes are to participate in equal degree in the advantages of education, it is much more economical and prob- ably more efficient to conduct all instruction under the same aus- pices. social traditions of exclusive rearing, as well as favour- able economic conditions, are to some extent recognisable in those institutions where separate education is still practised. on the whole, however, the tendency in europe, and to a greater extent in america, is increasingly to disregard social traditions and to establish a single system of institutions for the two sexes, allowing such separation as is to take place to appear within the institutions. 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