A NEW Essex University study suggests girls are more competitive when they attend single-sex schools.

Researchers found a girl’s social environment had more of an impact on her behaviour and attitude than her gender.

Professor Alison Booth and Dr Patrick Nolen looked at pupils from the top streams at four single-sex and four mixed schools. They found girls became less competitive and were less likely to take risks when in a group which included boys. However, after just 30 minutes in a girl-only group, they became more competitive and less risk averse, while boys remained unchanged.

Dr Nolen said: “The theory is if there is a stereotype with a gender, and you put them in a mixed-sex environment, they tend to act out the stereotype.”