Why All Girls?
At Agnes Irwin, our community inspires girls to lead, succeed, and embrace their limitless potential.
Divider Wreath
The research is clear: all-girls’ schools prepare students to thrive in a co-ed world.
They empower girls to set higher expectations for themselves, take intellectual risks, pursue advanced math and science courses, and develop essential leadership skills.
The Advantage of an All-Girls Education
Leadership
Girls and women continue to be underrepresented in a range of careers and fields of study. In the United States, women remain underrepresented in senior leadership in almost every industry, despite earning more bachelor degrees than men for four decades.
- Rachel Thomas, Marianne Cooper, Kate McShane Urban, et al., Women in the Workplace 2022
At Agnes Irwin, we believe that every girl has the capacity to lead. Each Division features a signature leadership program that aims to cultivate the skills, competencies and identity necessary for our girls to lead themselves and their peers.
“At girls’ schools, girls demonstrate great confidence in female leadership and become increasingly interested in leadership positions themselves. Data suggests that girls at coeducational schools actually become less interested in leadership positions with age.”
—Dr. Katherine Kinzler, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago and Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University
STEM
Math and science courses, particularly the higher levels of these concentrations, have been socially masculinized. According to the Society of Women Engineers, women make up only 35% of the STEM workforce in the United States
On average, 40% of Agnes Irwin graduates declare a STEM major in college.
Girls' school grads are 6 times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology compared to girls who attend co-ed schools — and 3 times more likely to consider engineering careers.
- Goodman Research Group, The Girls' School Experience: A Survey of Young Alumnae of Single-Sex Schools
- Dr. Linda Sax, UCLA, Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Co-Educational High Schools: Differences in Their Characteristics and the Transition to College
Teaching and Learning
Despite 82% of girls saying they like to try new things, 78% of girls report that they "do everything that they can to avoid messing up or failing.”
At Agnes Irwin, we are committed to valuing our girls' voices. We scaffold experiences to challenge girls that simultaneously honor their strengths while pushing them to be adaptable and receptive to new ways of thinking. Our teachers forge deep relationships with our students in a way that honors our girls as whole, multi-dimensional people. We know that supporting them in exploring who they are, what they can do, will lead to each girl knowing her power, and using it to shape the future she wants for herself.
Girls who feel like they belong at school are seven times more likely to also describe themselves as confident.
- Dr. Lisa Hinkleman, Ruling Our Experience, The Girls Index: Girls and STEM Impact Report (2023)
Voice
67% of girls don’t say what they are thinking or share their opinions with others because they worry about being disliked.
- Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Ruling Our Experience, The Girls Index (2023)
From Lower School to Upper School, Agnes Irwin students are supported in honing their voice. They are encouraged to lead assemblies, spearhead initiatives, and share their strengths in a variety of ways
Girls’ school students are more likely than their female peers at co-ed schools to experience an environment that welcomes an open and safe exchange of ideas.
Nearly 87% of girls’ school students feel their opinions are respected at their school (compared to 58% of girls at coed schools).
- Dr. Richard A. Holmgren, Allegheny College, Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools
Mentors
According to published research, girls’ confidence plummets 30% between the ages of 8 and 14 and remains at that level beyond high school.
(see article from AIS Magazine Spring 2025)We partner our girls with mentors and role models through a variety of programs during their time at Agnes Irwin, who provide feedback and inspire them to reach their goals.
86% of girls say they would feel more confident if they had a mentor.
- Etre LLC with Ypulse Inc., Mentors Matter for Girls…Early (2022)
Center for the Advancement of Girls
The Center for the Advancement of Girls creates opportunities that empower our community of learners to live with intention, cultivate their unique voices, and build lasting confidence. Guided by three essential questions—What is best for girls? What do girls need to thrive? What does it mean to empower girls?—The Center shapes every aspect of our work.
Additional Resources
Our curriculum and programming, powered by the research and efforts of our very own Center for the Advancement of Girls, ensure that everything we do is through the lens of what is best for girls. We know how they learn, how their brains develop, and what their social and emotional needs are, every step of the way.
Here are some additional resources for your consideration:
