Transcending a double bind: the case of Jenna

Career Development Quarterly, June, 2002 by Misty K. Hook, Kathy Ashton

Although all women's career development has been largely ignored, gifted women, in particular, have been virtually invisible within the career field. Many people assume that choosing a career should be easy for women with high intelligence and multiple gifts; however, the challenges to occupational choice for gifted women are frequently amplified because they are expected to use their talents while conforming to societal expectations of them as women. In this article, the authors seek to enhance awareness of some of these issues by first discussing one gifted woman's difficulties and then addressing treatment issues, using an ecological perspective.

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Gifted women, in particular, have been virtually invisible within the career field. Many people assume that choosing a career should be easy for gifted women but the reality is that the challenges to occupational choice for gifted women frequently are amplified. As the case study of JENNA shows, gender role socialization, circumscription of choices at the microsystem and macrosystem levels, internalized expectations, and uncertainty about how to successfully balance multiple roles are just some of the barriers that restrict the career development of gifted women. Thus, instead of being easier, career choice becomes much more complicated. Jenna needs assistance is combating these difficulties; consequently, a case conceptualization and counseling strategies that will assist in treatment are provided.

Case Example

Hi! My name is Jenna, and I'm 17 years old. I'm starting my senior year of high school and starting to think about what I want to do about a career. Right now, all I feel is confused about what I want to do with my life. You see, all my life I've been the "brain" of the school. I've never thought that I was much smarter than anyone else. I just work harder and get lucky with my studies. However, because I do pretty well in all my classes, people expect me to do something important like be a surgeon or a great writer or something. However, no one seems to have any advice on which career I should pursue.

My parents are pretty supportive. They tell me I can do whatever I want, to pursue my dreams. This feels good, but it doesn't help me make any decisions. My dad's a lawyer and my mom's a nurse, so these are pretty much the only two careers I know much about. Some of the things that I've mentioned to them, like law school or environmental science, they don't seem to think are very good ideas. My mom says that being a lawyer would be really stressful and hard to balance with having kids. Because I want to be able to "do it all," I'd like to try to find a career that allows me to be flexible with family.

My dad doesn't think that science is my strong point; he'd rather see me become a professor in something like history. I like history, but science seems like it might be more practical to me. Science classes always make me a little leery anyway. I mean, I always do really well in them, but my teachers don't seem to say much to me about pursuing careers that relate to the classes. I find the material difficult, too, but actually I like that. It's kind of challenging. Sometimes, I think science is a bad idea because it's so cold--it doesn't really have to do with helping people. I think it would be good for me to do something that tries to help people.

Then sometimes I think that I just feel like an outsider in science classes--all of my science teachers have been male and my classes seem filled with guys (which I don't always mind!). I asked my physics teacher about engineering, and he told me I'd probably prefer something more creative. I guess he's probably right. Sometimes, I wonder whether or not I'm really smart enough to do a science career. If I were really good at science, wouldn't my teachers tell me? Like I said before, I'm not always sure that I'm the genius everyone thinks I am. At times, I wonder if I have been fooling everyone. My friends seem to think I should major in something like English or history. I love to read and do well in classes like that. I'm not sure what I'd do with a degree like that, though. Sometimes, it seems like an easy way out.

Another thing that I worry about with some of the careers I'm looking at is how long I'll have to be school. I mean, say I go to law school--that's another 3 years on top of college! What if I'm in a relationship by then? Will my boyfriend be willing to take a backseat to my career? The way I see it, guys say they're open minded, but few are willing to let the woman in the relationship be smarter or make more money. Will I be ruining my chances of ever getting married if I pursue something like law or medicine?

I'm applying to colleges now, and I feel as if I have to make a decision soon about what I want to do. The possibilities seem endless to me in some ways. I mean, I know I could do just about anything I put my mind to. On the other hand, I can't think of anything I know I absolutely want to do. And that's really scary.