Writing Circle Analysis

My writing circle gave me some ideas to expand upon on the notion of women in the classroom especially in areas of math and science.  Are they at a disadvantage? What is the ideal female student like today? What did it used to mean to be a female in school?  What are the possibilities for female students in the future?  These are some important questions to ask.  I am by no means a hard core feminist, but I have noticed through being a math major that being a female interested in mathematics or engineering is somewhat of a minority.  Then while going through the readings I realized that they reiterate some of the problems females have as students. In Educational Foundations the authors talk about how research has concluded that girls are frequently denied an equal education simply because of their gender.  The notion of having more same sex schools also came up in our writing circles.  This follows along with the notion in Chapter 6 that discusses that most schools are organized to meet the needs of white males. This includes things like curriculum, instructional techniques, and learning styles. But the big question is would females benefit more from a same sex school due to learning aspects or would it hurt them and society to be more segregated?  Another response to my ideas about women in education was that Kaestle was the only one during that time who mentioned women during that time and when he did it was only in a short paragraph.  This definitely shows the lack of women's role in education back then.  In the beginning of forming my ideas about females in schools I thought they only lacked advancement opportunities in subjects that seem more male dominated but after reading Part 2 of Educational Foundations, its authors make me begin to think that females are still in somewhat of a disadvantage in all aspects of education.  Do you agree?  Or do you think they are taking it too far?