Neither do students pay attention in the converse, psychology concentrator Francisco D. Hernandez, Jr., ’13 said. “It’s not like I go to class and all I see are women,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me—I don’t think students on campus think about that.”

Still researchers show concern about the impact that a continued trajectory of divided classrooms might have in education.

Stereotype threat, the anxiety experienced by an individual who is afraid to confirm an unfavorable stereotype about her racial or sexual group, can hamper academic performance among female students studying traditionally male-dominated tracks such as physics or similarly, and among male students in female-slanted academic fields. For example, a March 2005 study published by Psychological Science reported that stereotype threat negatively influences female performance on mathematics tests.

While divided classes can encourage these negative stereotypes, gender imbalance can also influence power dynamics and negotiation ability of students in the classroom. Boys view themselves as significantly more entitled than girls, and more likely to confront teachers about unfair grades, suggests a December 2008 study by the Journal of Genetic Psychology.

Still, Harvard represents a more progressive environment in gender imbalances within academic campuses. In ‘Mean Girls,’ Lindsay Lohan joins the high school Mathletes team, and is the only student girl on the team. While Harvard retains some unequal gender ratios, women do not have to be afraid to be the only female in the room.

—Staff writer Nikita Kansra can be reached at nkansra01@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Sabrina A. Mohamed can be reached at smohamed@college.harvard.edu.