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Foreword
Smart Girls (Revised Edition)- A New Psychology of Girls, Women, and Giftedness builds on theories and findings of research to create a portrait of gifted girls and women, incorporating new theories and research findings. Chapters One and Two describe my ten-year follow-up study of my former classmates, all graduates of the program supposedly designed to train us as "Leaders of Tomorrow." Four patterns of development emerged from this small group: full-time homemaking, in which half of the women were engaged; traditional female occupations, another quarter; dual career couples, only a few; and single professional career women, also just a few.

The third chapter explores the lives and goals of the gifted women twenty years after graduation. A much more complex categorization was now needed, for while some women had continued as before, others had radically transformed their lives; and a new group had emerged, the "overwhelmed," who were having difficulty with the most basic issues of survival and sanity...

The new material in the last three chapters not only incorporates the new knowledge on gifted girls and women; it also includes guidance strategies which will help prepare gifted girls for life in the next century. Described are practical programs for gifted girls that have had an impact on math anxiety, inadequate career aspirations, and low self-esteem. A few of the more recent workshops discussed here were based on findings and suggestions presented in Smart Girls, Gifted Women. Finally, there are specific suggestions for parents of gifted girls and for gifted women, and a set of guidelines for helping gifted girls "from preschool toprofessional school"--or to anywhere else that their sense of mission and meaning might take them....