Radboud Centrum Sociale Wetenschappen

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Where are the girls? Gender equality in gifted education: why girls are still underrepresented in gifted education

Door: 
Maaike Goddijn
Girls and boys are equally gifted, yet girls are evidently underrepresented in gifted education. A literature review in ECHA News investigates various barriers to equal access for boys and girls to gifted education and shows that although gender bias appears less pronounced, its influence on the education and lives of gifted girls is still significant. Gifted girls face various potential obstacles that may cause their giftedness to go unidentified and hinder their participation in gifted education. 

Where are the girls Maaike Goddijn

Take-aways

  • Literature shows that boys are more likely to be identified as gifted than girls, which eventually results in fewer girls participating in gifted education. Gifted girls’ ability to blend in combined with internalizing behavior contributes to their giftedness being regularly overlooked.
  • Furthermore, teachers' stereotypical ideas about giftedness and gender appear to hinder the identification and admission of girls to special programs. However, when teachers do have more knowledge about giftedness, they contribute positively to the identification and selection process, especially when various methods of identification and selection are being used.
  • Although societal pressure may be very subtle, its impact on the development of gifted girls is immense. Both teachers and parents must avoid to unintentionally confirm the stereotypical gender biases that hinder girls to show what they are capable of.
  • Early identification and participation in gifted education should prevent gifted girls from going unnoticed and hiding their talents. Meeting and being involved with their peers will empower them to deal with the stigmatization and societal pressure of being gifted.

About the author

Maaike Goddijn is affiliated with the Radboud University (The Netherlands) as a lecturer at the RITHA Practitioner training and she works as an educational adviser and ECHA specialist in gifted education at Het ABC (educational consultancy) in Amsterdam. 

RITHA Practitioner

Radboud University has been offering an educational programme on Giftedness for over 25 years. The first course was called The ECHA Specialist in Gifted Education. This training has been intensively further developed and innovated within Radboud University and evolved into a state-of-the-art, research-based, blended training: the Radboud International Training on High Ability - RITHA. As a RITHA Practitioner you will have all the knowledge and skills to put evidence-based theory into practice. We offer an international programme and a programme in Dutch