Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research Newsweek article /Men, Women and IQ

A couple comments:

Our self-contained gifted class for "exceptional" students has always been predominantly boys. For the first time in 8 yrs, we have 6 girls and 12 boys (previously it was only 1 or 2 girls at any time).

While I have no daughters, I see moms of very gifted girls focus on appearance, clothes, dance, music (almost back to 1800s Jane Austen times) rather than academic accomplishments. My niece (now age 7) scored 150 on IQ test 3 yrs ago. My very intelligent sister, who was skipped 3 times herself, has not investigated "gifted" or out of the ordinary paths/challenges for her daughter (of course I constantly email her information, but she's just not interested). Are there different expectations for girls?

Most of the valedictorians from the two high schools in town are girls...This doesn't necessarily relate to IQ--it's more work ethic. I wonder if there's an "obedience" component of getting great grades that is more suited toward women. For example, if a class is boring and an assignment or paper is bogus, my son will rush through because he feels confident and empowered to make the assessment that it is not worth much of his valuable time/effort. On the other hand, when I was a student, I would have worked to complete the assignment to the best of my ability, without questioning how worthwhile is was.

Hmmm....that's interesting. I was identified late myself, and I think it WAS a confidence issue. ( I remember being extremely nervous and unwilling to cooperate on the IQ test.)

What I found interesting is the discussion of spatial abilities being stronger in boys. My DD's did not do well on the NNAT (a visual-spatial test)which they had to take for GT screening at their school. However, they are both highly verbal and most likely gifted but not yet identified. The NNAT developers claim that there is no gender of racial bias, but I've found conflicting research on this.

I probably tend to underestimate my own abilities. I wonder why we females do this?

Me, too! I see it all the time in high school boys. They can be so cocky.

Cym and Elh, I have seen the same thing with my dd. She will complain about her assignments directly to the teacher, but after a few months of it, I start to hear things at home. By that time, she's already told me that some of the boys in her class have been already sent to the principal's office, because they just cannot tolerate having to sit and listen to endless repetition of something they already know. Since she does not exhibit bad behavior in class, it puts the onus on me to advocate for her in these situations. (If it was really a problem, she'd be acting out, right?)

I will say that being in a school for gifted children has helped her, because she is more like "one of the crowd." She really does just want to fit in, at an age where some of her friends are deciding that being popular is way better than being smart.

--C.

This operates in our house. I've occasionally met gifted girls who act 'like boys' in this regard - and boy oh boy do they catch flack! So I think it's easier to be a dis-obedient boy as that's just more withint the expected boy parameters. OTOH, I don't think my DS has the ability to read his teachers as well as most girls - so even when he is temporarily motivated to obey, he has a tougher time getting into the teacher's head and giving what is wanted. FWIW, DS would strongly dissagree with this last statement - he believes he knows what the teachers mean even when he doesn't. Perhaps a key skill to listening is clearning one's minds of the perception that one already knows what is going to be said? I've always thought my kid had a stone tablet memory when the other kids were given etch-a-sketches- very difficult for him to 'reset.'

Smiles,
Grinity

I overheard about a study once that showed that when popularity was measured amoung bright boys, average boys, bright girls and average girls - the bright boys came out on top and bright girls were at the bottom. Not sure if that's true, but it fit my experience growing up that the key to popularity in K-12 School was masking my intelligence - to whatever expent I could. I think that many girls don't want to give up social exceptance, hide, and then come to believe their performance.

Sad, but next time I nag you to test all the siblings, know that this issue is in my mind, ok?

Grinity

It fits my experience, too. I was brainy and unpopular in high school. In college where I was surrounded by many more people like me, I was suddenly cool.

I also want to add that I think girls try to pressure and tease smart girls in order to put them down and make them feel less special. I'm seeing it with DD9. She's smart, pretty, athletic, a class leader, etc. Other girls are starting to say things to her like "your eyebrows are too close together" or "you'll never win that spelling bee, so don't even try". Girls are just plain mean to each other.

It'd be interesting to see who creates IQ tests (men?) and maybe there are different "gifts" more associated with women that aren't measured. Intuition for one--we all know the cliche is true and important. Social skills. Knowing what people want to hear and being able to say that. There's been a bias against ESL kids, cultural biases, probably also sex bias.

I know a lot of girls are identified gifted here, but not a lot highly gifted. Behavior is frequently the red flag, and only once in our program has a girl had a behavior issue (this year). Very interesting.

I remember taking IQ test and I'm certain I didn't answer things quickly or with great resolve...more tentatively. My boys seem to have such conviction about everything, which clearly must help on timed tests.

So true. Historically, most IQ tests probably have been devised by men. I wonder what skills would be emphasized if women developed an IQ test.

Boys are definitely more apt to take risks. I was NOT a risk taker as a kid.

OMG! LOL!