Coeducation (19th-21st centuries)

Single-sex schools developed in Europe in the early modern period since boys and girls were expected to lead different lives and hence acquire different skills. In the late 19^th century feminists and pedagogues increasingly questioned this separation, especially when they discovered the prevalence of coeducation in the United States. Coeducation gradually became the dominant mode of schooling in Europe in the 20^th century for ideological, pedagogical and pragmatic reasons, although the rate at which it progressed varied a great deal depending on the age of students, the religious and political culture of the society, and the availability of schools.