The 2023 Girls’ Index: Exploring girls’ beliefs, experiences and needs · ICGS Research Library

Title

The 2023 Girls’ Index: Exploring girls’ beliefs, experiences and needs

Author

Hinkelman

Year Published

2023

Description

Ruling Our eXperiences [ROX] first launched The Girls’ Index in 2017, and it became a baseline for understanding “what girls think, believe, perceive and need” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 2). The survey has since been expanded, with a new report released that explores the 2023 survey results. This report provides critical information on the experiences and needs of girls from grades five to 12 throughout the United States, and highlights the impact of today’s complexities on girls. While geographically distant from Australasia, there are shared challenges faced by girls globally in today’s world, and ROX has provided beneficial insights into girls’ approaches to these issues. ROX partnered with schools across the United States to survey girls in grades five through to twelve. Participating schools were classified as “urban, suburban or rural” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 8). 90 per cent of participants attended public schools, and 43 per cent attended schools from mid-high or high poverty socioeconomic areas (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 9). The survey targets a number of key areas including confidence, pressure, stress and wellbeing, schools and leadership, and social media.
Girls’ confidence levels have dropped since 2017, with a decrease especially seen from grades five to 11 (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 5). This has been significantly impacted by body image and social media, with a clear correlation between increased time on social media and lower confidence levels (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 11). Girls who were happier with their body were also more likely to be confident (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 12). It is important for educators to note that girls who felt they belonged at their school were “7 times more likely to also describe themselves as confident” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 11). This reflects the value of belonging across many domains, which is important given its proven benefits for girls (Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia [AGSA], 2021, 2022).
Levels of sadness and depression among girls has increased in every grade since 2017, however, it has doubled for girls in grade seven and eight. Even more concerningly, it has tripled for girls in grades five and six (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 212). When asked what was causing these emotions, girls cited four specific stressors: Adults pressuring girls to be perfect, girls pressuring themselves to be perfect, school stress, and pressure to “fit into specific roles or stereotypes” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 24). Gender stereotypes were the most significant stressor reported by girls. Girls in the survey noted that “school, friendships and family issues” all placed particular pressure on students (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 5). Relationships were one of the most significant challenges noted by girls, with some feeling that “girls are in competition with one another” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 7). The stress caused by this “drama” was reported by girls as a major deterrent for attending school (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 25). Highlighting the importance of confidence building in girls, the survey showed that girls who feel confident are less likely to report these high levels of sadness, depression and stress (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 24). Girls with healthy female friendships also report a decrease in the number of days they feel sad or depressed (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 33).
Responses from numerous girls showed the importance of supportive staff for helping girls feel connected to their school (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 25). When girls feel they can “be authentic at school and when they have adults who care about them at school, they are more likely to want to attend school and feel like they belong there” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 25). This authenticity is important. Girls who feel they can be themselves at school are six times more likely to enjoy attending their school. When girls feel like they can belong at their school, they are 70 per cent more likely to enjoy their attendance (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 27).
The survey also considered girls’ confidence in their skills and leadership abilities. Concerningly, many reported reduced confidence in their own abilities, with nearly a quarter of girls in grades 5 and 6 reported being unsure “if they were smart enough for their dream career” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 6). This lack of confidence regularly extends to leadership roles. While girls may enjoy undertaking leadership positions, more than half of the survey respondents report being afraid to take on these roles due to fears they will be seen as “bossy” (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 5). This fear was prevalent: Nearly 60 per cent of girls enjoy being in charge of an activity or project, yet fear leadership as they worry they will be perceived as bossy, too loud or opinionated (Hinkelman, 2023, p. 29). This reinforces the important role girls’ schools play in supporting girls to explore their leadership ambitions in positive environments (AGSA, 2023a, 2023b).
It will likely come as no surprise that girls’ use of social media has increased. When the surve