Issues and Challenges
Faced by Gifted Students:
Boredom
The boredom that gifted students experience may be qualitatively
different from that which their non-gifted peers experience,
just as their learning and thinking are and calls for further
examination (Kanevsky & Keighley, 2003). Gifted students
may be bored because the material is not challenging enough;
non-gifted students may be bored because they are not interested
in the material and/or the material is too challenging.
Perfectionism
Gifted college students may be more perfectionistic than average-ability
college students. Hamachek (1978) describes two types of perfectionism
- the normal and the neurotic. Normal perfectionists are described
as individuals who "derive a very real sense of pleasure
from the labours of a painstaking effort" while neurotic
perfectionists are those "unable to feel satisfaction because
in their own eyes they never seem to do things good (sic) enough
to warrant that feeling" (as cited in Parker & Adkins,
1995).
Multi-potentiality
Many gifted students have the ability to succeed in multiple
areas. Multi-potentiality, or “having potential to make
significant contributions in two or more domains”, can
be somewhat problematic for a gifted college student, as students
are advised to choose a major and enter a career field based
on their strengths in a particular area (Rinn & Plucker,
2004, p. 57). Having many strengths can sometimes lead to indecision
regarding choosing a major while in college. Indeed, uncertainty
about choosing a major likely increases with increasing levels
of academic ability (Kerr & Colangelo, 1988).
“Culture Shock”
For many gifted students, college classes may be the first time
they have encountered someone of equal or greater ability than
themselves. During the freshman year, especially, gifted students
may experience a decrease in self-concept due to feeling like
everyone else may be “smarter”. Luckily, self-concept
usually increases after the freshman year because students begin
to feel more confident about their abilities (Pascarella &
Terenzini, 1991).
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