Gifted discrimination in the workplace.

How are gifted people treated in the workplace? In particular, how are former child prodigies welcomed, or not?

Recently, I heard of an interesting experience of a former child prodigy, in the corporate work place. He had attended a world famous University at 13 and graduated in Physics at 16. All his life he had excelled in all things academic. He had started work in the corporate world at 16. I was struck though, by how he was treated. Do you think he was welcomed or appreciated by his corporate bosses? Did they value him?

Well, to my eyes, they discriminated against him in a very odd way. Knowing of his intellectual brilliance, he had been specifically told that he would NEVER get promoted, unless he received an A grade evaluation in all areas, in his work performance. He was rather puzzled by this, you see, because he knew of others, whose evaluations were two levels below his, who were getting promoted. These were "ordinary" people, who had not been child prodigies, or gifted in any way. They received promotion on reaching a much lower standard than he did.

Understandably, this former child prodigy was unhappy at being held to a different standard than everyone else in the workplace...so he duly left his job. He felt that it was wrong that they should treat him differently, in this negative way, because of his academic history. The imposition of a higher standard, for him and him alone, meant that he could not enjoy the job. He was always under pressure to do better, be the best. It meant that he could never relax in the job, never give up pushing himself. It made the job, in short, hellish to be in. He had to leave.

I am curious. Do you, my reader, know of any other cases of gifted discrimination? Are they similar to this one, with gifted people being held to higher standards, before they can be promoted? Or are they experiencing other forms of discrimination? Please let me know in the comments below.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

A most polite boy.

Today, as we sat in a restaurant, eating dinner, Tiarnan, five, picked up a chip that had not been covered in chilli powder and rubbed it against one which had. Chilli powder duly transferred from the second chip, to the first.

“Thank you.”, said, Tiarnan, gratefully, his eyes peering down at the plate.

“Who are you saying thank you, to?” I asked, curious, since his gaze had been on no human. “Was it the chip?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Why? Was it because the chip gave you something?”

He nodded again.

What a polite boy. Even the chips get a thank you, from him.

Next he picked up another chip.

“This is the chip I said thank you, to.”, he noted, his eyes looking up at me with an odd seriousness, with a hint of humour in it.

“Now you are going to eat it?”

He looked at the chip, with assessing eyes, and carefully replaced it on the plate.

When he had finished eating, the chip which had “done him a favour”, was left uneaten, on the plate. He just didn’t have the heart to eat the chip that had “helped him out”!

How sweet.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)