We live in the 21st century and such a question as this may seem slightly ridiculous to some, but there are advantages to single-sex colleges and universities, which mixed-sex educational establishments cannot match.
All the available research from the Western countries shows that males perform equally well in a single-sex or mixed-sex environment. However, females underperform in colleges of the latter type, so it is better for them to give preference to the first type.
It can be argued that gender-specific support and advice can be more focused and cost-effective in single-sex institutions, because they only have to provide those services for only one gender. In a similar way, vocational guidance can be more focused in such educational institutions.
Social life outside college is still possible outside a single-sex college or university, but their very existence is a reminder of the key reason for college and university: to focus on educational achievement without the daily distraction of the opposite sex.
Some academic disciplines have what is seen as a gender-bias, but single-sex colleges can militate against that. For example, all the available research shows that in these colleges women are more likely to study Mathematics and Physics, while men are more likely to study Languages and Design. With the challenges that our country faces, we need our best people doing what they do better regardless of gender. Single-sex colleges seem to offer that.
On the other hand, critics of this type of colleges would argue that such institutions are unnatural and take away from young people the opportunity to mix with the opposite sex at a formative period in their lives. It might also be argued that certain subjects at university, such as Literature, benefit from having the perspective of both genders in the seminar room.
In conclusion, single-sex colleges and universities should be allowed in order to maximize choice for those who want to have access to their advantages. To face the economic challenges of the 21st century, we need all our citizens, regardless of gender, to achieve as highly as they can academically in order to ensure our country’s continued economic prosperity.