Kathleen D. Noble

THE DILEMMA OF THE GIFTED WOMAN

The abilities of highly capable women have rarely received serious recognition, support, or guidance. Although there is increasing interest in attracting women to positions of social, political, educational, and scientific leadership, many obstacles inhibit women from realizing their potential in these areas. These obstacles include: confusion about the meaning and nature of giftedness; psychological and cultural barriers to owning and displaying ones abilities; and ambivalent attitudes of peers, parents, and significant others toward exceptional ability in women. This paper encourages feminist psychologists to respond to this populations unique affective needs, and focuses on recognizing, understanding, and furthering exceptional ability in women in the face of gender-role stereotyping and cultural pressures.

To Thine Own Self Be True: A New Model of Female Talent Development

This article describes an innovative model of female talent development based upon the life experiences of gifted women from a wide variety of backgrounds and talent domains. The model was synthesized from original studies contributed by more than 20 scholars, psychologists, and educators, known collectively as Remarkable Women: Perspectives on Female Talent Development (Arnold, Noble, & Subotnik, 1996). Key issues addressed by this model are the personal, professional, and cultural challenges common to gifted females as well as strategies for coping with then, spheres of influence and achievement to which gifted women aspire, and ways to help gifted women and girls identify and actualize their talents and gifts.

But What About the Prom? Students' Perceptions of Early College Entrance

The Early Entrance Program at the University of Washington enables bright and highly motivated adolescents to enter the University of Washington without attending high school. Previous research indicates that students do well academically at the UW, with grade point averages much higher than those earned by regular-age students, and that they adjust well to college life. This study exaimined student perceptions of early college entrance, focusing on the reasons students choose this unusual educational option; their experiences with peers, regular age students, and professors; and the effect of skipping high school on their social, emotional, and intellectual development.

Psychological Health and the Experience of Transcendence

Transcendent experience is generally viewed by mental health professionals as a rare occurrence and symptomatic of psychopathology. A growing body of research, however, suggests that it is more common and more productive of psychological health than was previously believed. This article reviews the recent literature and its implications for psychologists whose clients have had transcendent experience of some kind, and who need support in the adjustment period that follows. It reviews common characteristics of the experience, incidence, catalysts, and relationship to mental health. It also offers treatment guidelines for adjustment reactions and suggests directions for future research.

Keeping their talents alive: Young women's assessment of radical, post‐secondary acceleration

Twenty‐seven of the 30 young women who entered the University of Washingtons Early Entrance Program (EEP) between 1988 and 1992 completed a 25‐item questionnaire which asked why they chose early college entrance, whether gender played a role in their decision, and how their and others’ attitudes toward themselves were affected by their participation in the EEP. They were also asked about their perceptions of sexism in educational and work environments; the values and dreams that guided their educational, professional, and relational decisions; and whether they thought early college entrance had been a help or a hindrance to their goals. Results indicated that although gender was not a factor in most respondents’ decision to enroll in the EEP, young women derive a number of unique benefits from radical acceleration, including a rare combination of acceptance and encouragement at a critical age that might help to inoculate them against less supportive environments as they grow older.

The female hero : a quest for healing and wholeness

The heroic quest is a psychological journey that brings heroes in contact with the deepest aspects of their being, and thereby enables them to achieve humanitys highest goals: autonomy, courage, creativity, integrity, and love. Most heroic myths, however, extol only the quests of men, depriving women of a powerful framework for conceptualizing their journey toward healing and wholeness. This paper explores the mythological and psychological dimensions of the female heros journey, and suggests ways for feminist therapists to incorporate this metaphor in their practice and research.

Swimming in Deep Waters: 20 Years of Research About Early University Entrance at the University of Washington

Radical acceleration from secondary school to university is an unusual educational option in the United States of America, yet it is one that more than 500 gifted young scholars have chosen at the University of Washington in Seattle since the inception of the Early Entrance Program in 1977 and the UW Academy for Young Scholars in 2001. From the beginning, research, using multiple methodologies, has carefully guided the evolution of these programs. The findings from these studies and recommendations for viable and successful early entrance programs are discussed in the context of early entrants’ intellectual, emotional, and social needs.