Gifted Girls
Gifted girls make up a unique portion of the gifted community. These young women are raised in a culture that expects woman to submit to a double standard.
Gifted girls academic and professional desires and achievements are often unconsciously undermined by parents, teachers and other professionals. Parents set certain expectations for their daughters. These expectations can include nurturing behaviors and playing with gender appropriate toys and games. In addition, a study done by Maccoby and Jacklin states that parents “accept lower achievement in mathematics from girls than from boys”. This is interesting, in that I have found no documentation that supports that girls cannot obtain the same level of academic achievement as boys. In school, girls are guided away from mathematics and sciences for course and career choices. In other subjects, such as history or physical education, textbooks and educators tend to concentrate on male role models. This can lead to girls questioning whether or not a female’s contribution to society is less valued then a male’s contributions. Furthermore, these girls face many social obstacles and stigmas. These include “smart girls are geeks”, “smart girls are not pretty” and “girls need to be in a relationship in order to be happy”. All of these stigmas can lead to lower self-esteem, increased pressure and even depression.
Studies show that pre-adolescent girls are self-assured, out-going and outspoken in terms of defending their beliefs. However, as girls enter adolescents there is a noticeable change in these behaviors. They tend to be less outspoken, more concerned with peer opinions and have lower self-esteems. If these signs were evident in any other group, steps would be put in place to rectify the situation. It appears that gifted girls are often left to their own devices. Teachers assume they will succeed and take no further action.
As educators, we are responsible to these girls. We...
