Invisible intelligence: Girls with high abilities who don't fit in

"In the field of science alone, there are 17 women who have received this award, and yet many of us could barely name two or three of them. Javier Touron and Steven Pfeiffer define high abilities as a set of cognitive, motivational, creative, and personal characteristics that, in interaction with the environment, allow for superior performance or exceptional potential. According to this criteria, between 10% and 15% of the population has high abilities, and approximately 2% belongs to the group of gifted individuals."

"The invisibility of high-ability women is no accident. From childhood, many learn to hide their talents in order to fit in, and avoid standing out in the classroom so as not to be labeled a know-it-all. For girls, the desire for acceptance is much stronger, leading them to intentionally lower their own academic performance and even conceal their true interests to pretend these align with the majority."

"Furthermore, high ability tends to be associated with brilliant performance in male-dominated fields, such as mathematics or science, while girls can excel in creative, social or linguistic areas, which are valued less highly. While gifted boys are viewed with curiosity, envy, or even admiration, girls have historically been expected to be discreet, agreeable, and compliant. The result: many go unnoticed until adulthood, when they finally discover that what made them feel odd was, in reality, extraordinary potential and boundless sensitivity."

Many celebrated intelligence figures are men, yet thousands of women possess extraordinary intellectual potential that often remains invisible. High abilities include cognitive, motivational, creative, and personal traits interacting with environment to enable superior performance; roughly 10–15% of the population has high abilities and about 2% are gifted. From childhood, many girls hide talents to fit in, intentionally lowering academic performance and concealing interests to seek acceptance. High ability is often associated with male-dominated fields while girls' strengths in creative, social, or linguistic areas are undervalued. Social expectations for girls to be discreet cause many to go unnoticed until adulthood.

Read at english.elpais.com