Alison Booth and her colleagues have studied competitiveness and risk taking among girls over the past few years. In this study Booth, Cardona Sosa and Nolan (2011) explored whether single-sex classes within coeducational environments modify risk-taking attitudes. They were particularly interested in examining whether ‘single-sex environments change risk taking behaviour temporarily’ or if they have a long-lasting effect (p. 2).

First year undergraduate economic students from a British university were randomly assigned to one of 37 small classes that were either: all female, all male or coeducational. The students were ‘required to make choices over real-stakes lotteries at two distinct dates’, one in the initial week of term and again in the eighth week of term (p. 3).

Booth and her colleagues found that (p. 3):
• ‘At both dates women were significantly less likely to make risky choices than men’.
• ‘In the initial week, the sex composition of the classes into which individuals had been randomly assigned had no impact on the choices over real stakes lotteries’.
• ‘After eight weeks in a single‐sex environment, women were significantly more likely to choose the lottery than their counterparts in coeducational groups, and the magnitude of the effect was quite large.’ There was no such finding for men in their single-sex groups.

The researchers concluded that their study was ‘relevant to the policy debate on the impact of single-sex classes within coed schools or colleges on individuals’ behaviour’ (p. 17). Their results suggest that 'observed gender differences in behaviour under uncertainty found in previous studies might actually reflect social learning rather than inherent gender traits. Of course this is not to say that inherent gender traits do not exist. Rather it suggests that they can be modified by the environment in which a woman is placed. In particular, single-sex classes within a coeducational environment were found to significantly alter young women’s choices over time (p. 4).


Booth, A., Cardona Sosa, L., & Nolen, P. (2011). Gender differences in risk aversion: do single-sex environments affect their development? IZA Discussion Paper No. 6133. Retrieved from the Institute for the Study of Labor website: www.iza.org

4f2a715305f0c-dp6133.pdf