Problems of Self-Realization of Gifted Women

Abstract

There is no need for complicated research or rigorous statistics to see that there is a glaring discrepancy between young girls' success in school and their accomplishments after they have grown up. This striking discrepancy is one that S. Olshen [24] has given the name "disappearing giftedness"; it cannot be accounted for solely by biological factors (for example, by differences in the structure of the brain or the presence of different hormones). T. V. Vinogradova and V. V. Semenov have noted, rightly, that in order to understand the situation "it will be necessary to have multifactorial models that take account of biological and psychological characteristics of women, as well as social determinants and the influence of the family, the schools, and stereotypes of sex roles" [3, p. 70]. These authors conclude that the development of such models is still a job for the future. We suggest that one reason for such a conclusion is that some aspects of possible models have not yet been adequately studied.