Originally Posted by susandj
I have to say that a lot of the conversation about "future leadership" strikes me as pretty silly. My son is very gifted, but is not now, and likely will not ever be, a social leader. Maybe he will come up with a major innovation in science, maybe he won't. I'm quite certain he won't be a CEO of anything.

I whole-heartedly agree. One thing that drives my crazy with a lot of these studies is that they define success as achieving notable status in your given profession.

FWIW, I haven't read Smart Boys but I did read Barbara Kerr's Smart Girls. I found myself arguing with that book constantly, particularly how she defined success. I also felt that the cultural references were outdated in terms of opportunities open to women.