Gifted Students and Gender

Gender Differences among the Gifted

In the primary grades, it is common for more girls than boys to be identified for gifted programs. At that time in their education, gifted girls as a group may outperform gifted boys in verbal areas, especially reading. Even when bright boys are avid readers, they may be intentionally held back because of parental concerns about physical readiness for sports programs, a practice called redshirting. By high school and beyond, the gender gap in performance on verbal tests seems to disappear.

At the secondary school level, some differences in achievement and program participation rates for gifted males and females have been found. For example, although the gender gap in achievement in mathematics in the general population has gradually narrowed during the past 30 years, the gap remains in favor of males at the highest levels of performance. The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth initiated talent search competitions in the United States more than 40 years ago, and these competitions consistently identify more males than females as gifted in math, and the ratio has been as great as 20 to 1 in some years. At the college and graduate education levels, males outperform females on the quantitative portions of admission tests such as the SAT and Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Gifted males, especially those gifted in math, are more likely than gifted females are to participate in accelerative opportunities in the high school and college years.

Most studies suggest that the incidence of underachievement among the gifted is higher for boys than girls. These results, especially in high school dropout rates and college enrollments, are most pronounced among lower socioeconomic populations and in some cases differ by ethnic group. For example, although males are entering college in fewer numbers than females overall, African American males are far less likely to go to college than are African American females.

Consistent gender differences among the gifted have been found in values and interests. Gifted girls have many varied interests and are less intensely focused on science and sports than are gifted boys. These in turn relate to differential pursuits in extracurricular activities and, later, college majors and career choices. Despite 30 years of efforts by educators to recruit more gifted women into the sciences, gifted women pursue careers in technical areas such as engineering and computer science at far lower rates than gifted men do. It appears that gender stereotypes shape some of the interests and choices made by students. Some evidence indicates that socioeconomic and cultural differences may interact with gender. Children with college-educated parents, for example, may be more accepting of reading as an appropriate masculine pursuit. Many gifted boys may be discouraged from pursuing interests and careers in the visual and performing arts because these areas seem less secure and well paid than do opportunities in business, science, and technology.

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