Don't Let Your Child Be a Statistic

Late last week there was a research study published in Science that shared how young children view brilliance and gender. Among other tasks, children were told stories of brilliant (aka, “very, very smart”) people without any hint at gender and then asked to choose a picture of the person they thought the story was about.

The punch line is that at 5-years of age, all the kids are more likely to identify the brilliant person as someone of their gender. But, because there has to be a but, by 6-years of age, both boys and girls are more likely to say the brilliant person is a male.
 
Simply said, by 6-years of age, kids think females are less likely to be brilliant.
 
If you don’t want your child to be a statistic and fall into the trap of thinking that females aren’t as smart as males, here are five things you can start (or continue) doing ASAP…no matter how young or old your kids are!

• Introduce bright female role models: Make sure your children have access to stories about amazing women who have contributed to our world by using their intellect. Some to check out are Marie Curie (Nobel Prize winner), Maria Montessori (early childhood education reformer), Edith Stern (mathematical genius who holds 128 US Patents), and Ada Lovelace (wrote the world’s first computer program ...in 1842).
  

 

• Mom’s, own your intellect: Be careful of the words you choose when you slip up and avoid saying things like, “I’m so stupid, I can’t believe I forgot that!” Better yet, step into the spotlight and take credit for your ideas and accomplishments. Let your kids know that you are a powerhouse and explain how you rely on your smarts to solve problems in your family's real world.
  

 

• Share stories about smart women in your life: Sharing examples of intelligent women who have had a personal impact on you will go a long way. Your children care more about your experiences than they do about any news story or history book, so take a walk down memory lane and share details of the brilliant women you admire.

 

• Emphasize the importance of hard work: The one other interesting finding from the article was that girls are more likely to choose a game made for “hard workers” than one made for “very, very smart kids.” At the end of the day, all kids need to know that the only way to move toward brilliance is to persevere and work hard. Sending this message to your children will serve them well.
  

 

• Turn gender-stereotypes as teaching moments: If and when you do hear someone assume a female is not bright or make comments reflecting an attitude of male superiority, let your child know what you think. I find the best way to get the message across is to calmly explain the errors in reasoning and reinforce to that both males and females are capable of great things, including being very, very smart!
  

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