Men and women at promise for scientific excellence: Similarity not dissimilarity

U.S. math-science graduate students possessing world-class talent (368 male s, 346 females) were assessed on psychological attributes and personal expe riences in order to examine how their talents emerged and developed. Compar isons were made, using similar assessments, with mathematically talented st udents (528 males, 228 females) identified around age 13 and tracked into a dulthood by the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY). Well befor e college, both samples were academically distinguished; however, the gradu ate students could be identified during adolescence as a subset of mathemat ically talented youths based on their nonintellectual attributes. Their pro files corresponded to what earlier psychological studies found to character ize distinguished (and exclusively male) scientists: exceptional quantitati ve reasoning abilities, relatively stronger quantitative than verbal reason ing ability, salient scientific interests and values, and, finally, persist ence in seeking out opportunities to study scientific topics and develop sc ientific skills. On these attributes, sex differences were minimal for the graduate students (but not for the SMPY comparison groups). Developing exce ptional scientific expertise apparently requires special educational experi ences, but these necessary experiences are similar for the two sexes.