Social and emotional issues faced by gifted girls in elementary and secondary school
Sally M. Reis
From The SENG Newsletter. 2002 2(3) 1-5.
Reis, 1 of 4
SUPPORTING EMOTIONAL NEEDS OF THE GIFTED
WWW.SENGIFTED.ORG
printed from the
website
Research with talented girls and women has revealed a number of personality factors, personal priorities, and social emotional
issues that have consistently emerged as contributing reasons that many either cannot or do not realize their potential. Not all
gifted females experience the same issues, but trends have been found in research about talented women that identify a
combination of the following contributing reasons: dilemmas about abilities and talents, personal decisions about family,
ambivalence of parents and teachers toward developing high levels of potential, and decisions about duty and caring (putting
the needs of others first) as opposed to nurturing personal, religious, and social issues.
The personal and social emotional issues occur across women’s lifespans. Some affect the youngest girls and some are only
apparent to women who have become involved in serious relationships in their college or graduate school years, or had
children later in their lives. Older gifted women resolve many personal issues relating to ability and social issues experienced
by younger gifted girls. It is also important to understand that some of these dilemmas cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of
everyone involved. Rather, some dilemmas shift or are resolved due to changes in a woman’s life, such as the maturation of her
children, the dissolution of a relationship, the reemergence of other relationships, or a change in environments at work or
home. Therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, when discussing social and emotional issues, to discuss gifted girls without
discussing gifted women, because many young gifted girls believe that they can “do it all” or “have it all,” while many older
gifted females have learned that they cannot. These gifted girls were extremely bright