Guiding the Talent and Career Development of the Gifted Individual

The lost potential of academic talent can have far-reaching implications for society; thus, one might assume that there would be great interest in developing the talents of the brightest students in the United States and a stronger commitment to attending to their career development needs. Because increasing the pipeline of students entering the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a priority among U.S. educators and policy makers (National Science Board, 2014), it may seem puzzling that the education and research and policy communities have been generally resistant to addressing academic giftedness in research, policy, and practice. The resistance is derived from the assumption that academically gifted children will be successful no matter what educational environment they are placed in, and because their families are believed to be more highly educated and hold above-average access to human capital wealth. (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011, p. 3) Although some educators are attuned to the needs of their most advanced learners, many teachers view the gifted students in their classrooms "as nothing more than peer-tutoring candidates who are ahead of the game ... not ... as children being handicapped by an unchallenging educational environment or [their own] lack of awareness" (Berman, Schultz, & Weber, 2012, p. 24). One reason that educators may be reluctant to expose gifted learners to more challenging course work is the belief that individual educational need is less important than equal opportunity for all students. They may fail to recognize the distinction between equity and sameness and may believe that all students should "have the same curriculum at the same time. This is a violation of equal opportunity" (Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004, p. 9). According to Benbow, "all kids deserve to learn something new every day--including the gifted" (as cited in Colangelo et al., 2004, p. 39). The widely held belief that gifted individuals require (or merit) little or no guidance with educational and career planning is a myth noted in the gifted education literature (e.g., Greene, 2006; Maxwell, 2007). In essence, this belief implies that gifted students intuitively understand the process of career development and can pursue any career pathway(s) they wish and achieve a fulfilling work life because of their high-level abilities and interests. On the contrary, the academically gifted individual requires long-term academic and career planning that should be approached systematically. Educators need to incorporate academic and career planning activities into the curriculum for every school-age child (Schenk, Anctil, Smith, & Dahir, 2012), including the academically gifted student. Researchers acknowledge that an individual's abilities are a necessary condition for career achievement; however, occupational and career decisions are also influenced by a whole range of additional factors, including one's interests, values, social influences, and cultural considerations, and therefore require the skillful and knowledgeable approach of a counselor trained in career counseling (Jung & McCormick, 2011; Lubinski & Benbow, 2006). Effective career interventions with gifted individuals need to be proactive and intentional (Greene, 2006; Sampson & Chason, 2008). Although these interventions clearly fall within the purview of the school counselor to assist gifted children, career development is an ongoing and continuous process throughout one's lifetime. Thus, counselors employed in community mental health centers, private practices, and other clinical settings may also encounter highly intelligent clients of various ages struggling with career-related concerns. This article examines the unique challenges and barriers gifted individuals may face in their academic and career development and proposes a theory-informed career counseling framework for providing guidance to this population. …