Helping build lives: career and life development of gifted and talented students.

Gifted individuals are capable of or demonstrate superior performance. Career counseling of gifted and talented students must acknowledge the unique career and life development issues that may impact their career planning. Common issues are multipotentiality, early emergence and foreclosure, personality traits, the overemphasis on academics, and the expectations of others. School counselors should consider adjusting the timing, pace, complexity, and intensity of career activities to suit the advanced cognitive levels and/or issues of gifted students.

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It probably has always been a challenge for school counselors to balance the career development of students with the myriad of other counseling and administrative duties required each day. One of the challenges is to keep up with rapidly changing occupational trends and employment opportunities. Another is to meet the career development needs of individual students, guiding them through an appropriate program of career decision-making and planning.

In the current atmosphere after the No Child Left Behind legislation in education, or Public Law 107-110 (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), which focuses on accountability for achievement and strict guidelines for assessments, the center of school counselors' attention has been directed to students' academic success. However, regardless of how much attention they invest in that area, school counselors must manage their time and caseloads, including attending to the most pressing of students' behavioral, social, and emotional issues. Addressing those needs reactively is important for individual students' academic success, of course, but reactive counseling and attention to academic concerns may leave little time for proactive attention to social and emotional development, including to career counseling, per se. Counselors may believe, albeit erroneously, that academically able students should be able to manage to make career decisions themselves, or expect that these students will pursue college studies as a matter of course before making any "real" career plans.

In reality, many young gifted and talented students have extremely high career expectations and aspirations, and others may have high career expectations of them as well. Gifted and talented individuals have been found to possess a great ego involvement in work (Pyryt, 1993) and earlier career maturity by being more certain of career choices sooner than other students (Kelly & Colangelo, 1990). However, these characteristics do not mean that gifted and talented students are equipped to navigate independently the complex career decisionmaking process. Therefore, it is crucial that school counselors at all grade levels become familiar with some of the important career and lift development issues facing this student population.

WHO ARE THE GIFTED AND TALENTED?

Giftedness can be demonstrated by a variety of behaviors and in many different domains; thus there is no "typical" gifted individual, nor can any group of gifted students be considered truly homogeneous. Definitions of the words gifted and talented vary as much as the individuals who are assigned those labels and are influenced by social, political, economical, and cultural factors (Delisle & Galbraith, 2002). An amalgam of the definitions adopted by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Association of Gifted Children, and many state governments and school districts (Delisle & Galbraith; Robinson, 2002) describes gifted and talented children as those who require differentiated educational programs or services beyond the regular school offerings because they possess outstanding abilities and are capable of or demonstrate high levels of performance in any of several domains, including general and specific intellectual ability, leadership, visual and performing arts, creative thinking, and physical dexterity.

Most children experience similar difficulties in growing up, but gifted children and youth tend to experience more conflicts earlier, especially in school. These conflicts are often due to the incongruities among their developing abilities, interests, environments, and social expectations (Coleman & Cross, 2001; Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1997; Robinson, 2002) and can have a major impact on career and life development. The intellectual or cognitive development of gifted and talented children often progresses more rapidly than their social, emotional, and physical development, a phenomenon called asynchrony (Silverman, 2002). This uneven development may create a backdrop for vulnerabilities to surface when gifted children are compared with or provided the same services as their chronological peers. High levels of intensity and sensitivity are also characteristics of many gifted individuals (Piechowski, 1997). Gifted children with these characteristics may pursue interests more typical of adults, or with a passion that is more mature than typical of children their age. Feeling "out of synch" or having an intense interest in something out of the ordinary makes it difficult for some gifted children and youth to fit in with their school peers. They may feel pressure, internal and external, to conform, yet at the same time, they feel pressured to excel academically.

THE MODERN WORK WORLD

Today, work is defined by skills and values, not merely by occupational titles, and it is more important than ever to recognize the importance of developing the "soft skills" needed to succeed in the modern work world (Carnevale & Desrochers, 2003). Employers acknowledge that it is not sufficient to enter the workforce with only a specialized skill set. Higher levels of soft skills--including interpersonal and problem-solving skills, ongoing learning, leadership, teamwork, and creativity--are necessary to succeed in almost every field (Carnevale & Desrochers; Feller, 2003). According to Jarvis and Keeley (2003), the newest economy, the knowledge economy, requires high levels of worker flexibility and adaptability, self-knowledge and personal management, and a broad set of transferable skills, including the ability to work well on a team.

Although gaining some knowledge of current and future employment trends and expectations is a must for school counselors, knowing how that information impacts student populations is also imperative. With the growing importance of soft skills as described above, traditional career development activities that focus on assessing specific existing abilities or potential aptitude for particular job tasks are becoming less and less useful.

CAREER AND LIFE DEVELOPMENT

A career is a means of self-expression that reflects one's values and, therefore, one's identity (Davis & Rimm, 1998). The careers and career decision-making of today's teenagers will likely not resemble that of their teachers or parents. Career decision-making is a lifelong process, not a one-time choice of occupation (Perrone, 1997); thus, career counseling should be less about finding a person a job match and more about helping an individual build a satisfying life (Mitchell, Levin, & Krumboltz, 1999).

Beginning in the teen years and continuing into adulthood, the predominant factors for an individual's occupational preference are internal, unique self factors, such as vocational interests, talents, and personal needs that are congruent with the individual's self-concept. According to Perrone (1997), the career is central to the identity of gifted individuals, and gifted persons are more likely to work at one job for life, going against current trends that show typical workers changing jobs, occupations, and careers multiple times. Devoting one's life to a singular focus requires a powerful internal drive for mastery and above-average task commitment, both characteristics of many gifted individuals. For many gifted and talented individuals, their career and life path evolves from the quest for life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning (Kerr & Erb, 1991).

A person spends, on average, 30-35 years involved in a chosen career; thus career choice has a major impact on a person's life and lifestyle. Effective career counseling of gifted and talented students incorporates lifespan issues and helps them build satisfying lives by learning to balance multiple life roles. Career and life development should be an action-oriented and constructivist process and considered in relationship to other aspects of life, rather than in isolation. Young people making career decisions should not be merely choosing a job. They also must weigh personal beliefs about and desires for particular lifestyles and life roles. Do they value salary over job or personal satisfaction? Are they looking for occupations with room for intellectual or creative growth? Do they want to marry, have children before age 30, own a house, or live in a rural area? Would they prefer a multifaceted line of work involved with production of goods, or laboratory research, or dedication to a social cause? Are they willing to move, commute, or work from home? In addition to these lifestyle issues, individuals must recognize that their current interests, beliefs, and abilities may change. Transition and change over time play prominent roles in career development and therefore also should be emphasized in career counseling for gifted and talented students (Greene, 2003).

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CAREER AND LIFE DEVELOPMENT

According to experts, career decision-making for gifted students is unique in some ways (Emmett & Minor, 1993; Kelly, 1996; Perrone, 1997). Although there may not be a typical gifted individual, there are certain common and predictable issues for many gifted students that may impact career development during their school years. Among the issues to be explored further are the internal issues of multipotentiality, early career emergence and foreclosure, and personality traits, such as sensitivity, heightened sense of social responsibility, and perfectionism. In addition, external issues that influence career decision-making will be examined, including an overemphasis on academics and the expectations of others for achieving and underachieving students.

Multipotentiality

"I want to become a computer-animation programmer, a mathematician, or a jazz musician." "I'd like to be a pediatrician, a graphic artist, or a magazine journalist." At the elementary school level, these very disparate career options might bring a smile to the face of an educator who recognizes that it is not unusual for children to think of many possibilities that come from personal interests while trying on identities and learning about occupations. However, the smile may fade from a counselor's face when these same statements are made by gifted students entering their senior year of high school. Multipotentiality, the ability to do many things at very high levels of competence and enjoyment, is a common characteristic of gifted individuals. These individuals with capability for achievement in many arenas seem to have limitless potential. They can become involved and successful in diverse activities, allowing them to explore many facets of their personality and creativity. At first glance, this multipotentiality seems quite advantageous, although it may complicate career decision-making and goal setting for gifted and talented students (Kerr, 1990). Many students become frustrated due to internal conflicts and the necessity of letting some of their interests go in order to develop others (Matthews & Foster, 2005). Having trouble with decision-making can lead to changing majors, delaying decisions, or making premature choices. Prolonged uncertainty and exploration and frequent changes in areas of study or occupation are common among multipotential individuals (Stewart, 1999).

One of the most critical developmental tasks for academically talented students with high ability in many areas may be developing identity and purpose (Perrone, 1997; Stewart, 1999). When there is no doubt about ability, then students must focus on who they want to be and what they want to stand for. Too often, gifted young people, and especially gifted boys, who have the academic potential for success in a multitude of careers are directed toward a limited number of occupations considered "appropriate," namely, doctor, lawyer, engineer, and business person (Colangelo, 2003; Colangelo & Kerr, 1991). Youth who are talented in the visual or performing arts may be discouraged from pursuing their passions as careers because of the uncertainty of these professions, including the perceived lack of financial stability and the unconventionality of the postsecondary training paths and subsequent lifestyles.

Instead of focusing on their many existing abilities, these students should be encouraged to explore other aspects of their lives, such as their values, life goals, and leisure activities (Stewart, 1999). A child's hobbies and leisure pursuits are important exploratory experiences that may be highly intellectual endeavors and may be strong indicators of possible career directions (Milgram, Hong, Shavit, & Peled, 1997). Absolute career decidedness at the end of high school may not be desirable; it may be better to decide after having the opportunity to acquire specific skills and become knowledgeable about a career area. Perhaps the most important lesson to teach gifted and talented students with many options and their parents is that a career decision made in the last years of high school is just one choice, the first of potentially many career choices. Parents and students must be made aware that rapid changes in society, business, and technology, in addition to changing interests and values as a person matures, might cause deviations from the initial career path chosen by an adolescent.

Early Emergence and Foreclosure

"I want to be an environmentalist working to save the South American rain beetle." "I will be a world-famous neurosurgeon." "There is no other option. I have to dance." At first glance these statements would seem like reasonable career goals for gifted or talented students for whom limited ability is not an issue. However, if they are uttered by 5-year-olds, problems may arise during school years. Gifted students who are early emergers (Marshall, 1981) discover their passions and begin to develop unusually strong talents and avid interests in elementary school. Parents are usually the first adults to support their children's talents and may ask for help from school counselors in choosing suitable activities or appropriate levels of engagement. On the one hand, a narrow focus or intense concentration in one area of proficiency that occurs too soon or too quickly may lead children not to be able to, or want to, continue with their talent development (Matthews & Foster, 2005). Too much encouragement and pressure also may reduce the child's intrinsic pleasure in the interest area (Kerr, 1990). On the other hand, insisting that a child diversify, his or her interests to be well-rounded also may diminish the passion and is not always in the best interest of an individual's talent development (Matthews & Foster).

One of the issues surrounding career foreclosure at an early age is that children's interests may change over time due to changing environments, maturation, and/or exposure to new experiences. Although unwavering and long-term dedication to a talent or perseverance may be one of the necessary factors to achieve eminence in a chosen field (Wahlberg, Williams, & Zeiser, 2003), students who foreclose too early do not learn to expand their experiences and develop new talents. Furthermore, if children are consistently underchallenged in their one chosen field, they could develop a pattern of perfectionism or failure avoidance that inhibits them from taking risks and trying new experiences (Dweck, 2000; Schuler, 2002), effectively shutting them out of some creative or innovative career options that may present opportunities later in life (Kerr, 1991). The lifespan approach to career counseling is crucial, acknowledging that occupational interests, competencies, and preferences may indeed change, especially during the identity-formation stages of adolescence.

Another issue is the asynchrony of a child's intellectual and emotional ages. Gifted or talented children may seem mature for their age, but they may not be able to make mature career decisions. Up to and including high school, schoolchildren are exposed to relatively few academic subjects and thus may develop a limited view of possible fields of study. They also may lack detailed knowledge about the specialized training, intensity, dedication, time, and energy needed to pursue and maintain certain careers (Stewart, 1999). Flexible thinking and openness to experience are important career and life skills in the new economy (Jarvis & Keeley, 2003). An individual should be able to react to changes, uncertainties, and unplanned events, positive or negative, to transform these changes into learning or career opportunities (Mitchell, Levin, & Krumboltz, 1999; Watts, 1996).

Personality Traits and Characteristics

Abilities, interests, and values should not be the only considerations in career/life development and planning for gifted and talented individuals, as behavioral manifestations of personality characteristics are also important to successful careers. Many gifted and talented people have complementary personality traits that can contribute to their success (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1997), such as perfectionism.

Perfectionism, the internal drive to achieve and fulfill high expectations imposed on oneself; is a trait that can affect a gifted or talented individual either negatively or positively. Gifted students often exhibit a strong desire to achieve mastery in their field, and their perfectionistic behaviors can propel them to exemplary accomplishments (Schuler, 2002). Striving for excellence and mastery can be considered a healthy perfectionistic behavior, whereas unhealthy perfectionism, or the feeling of never being satisfied with oneself or one's work, can actually be paralyzing (Schuler). The fear of making a mistake, of not being perfect, carries over into career planning, as unhealthy perfectionists may try to avoid or delay decision-making or may acquiesce to plans made by trusted adults who "know best."

Counselors should consider other common traits of gifted and talented individuals in career and life development and planning, such as extreme intensity or sensitivity, desire for social justice/fairness, heightened empathy and compassion (moral sensitivity), and high levels of energy, and creativity (Delisle & Galbraith, 2002; Lovecky, 1997; Mendaglio, 2003; Piechowski, 1997; Silverman, 1993). One rarely needs to ask whether or not the gifted individual has the ability or skill for his or her potential occupation, but should question if and how the individual's personal interests, traits, and behaviors will fit with the training and actual work of the chosen occupation, as well as personality fit with colleagues. John Holland's model can be helpful when discussing personality fit of gifted students and their possible careers. The Holland (1997) model arranges career interests into a hexagon to define and illustrate the interrelationships of interests and the potential fit of people with their work colleagues and work environments. Financially rewarding jobs considered high in status or prestige may not be the ones that provide the emotional connection, social action, or life satisfaction sought by gifted individuals who are characterized by a sense of personal mission.

Emphasis on Traditional Academic Domains and Conventional Training Routes

For talented students, a narrow focus on academics and achievement or ability is not adequate for career decision-making. Unfortunately, much of high school and college programming for gifted students still focuses primarily on addressing the individual's academic needs, even though academic ability is only one variable in career development (Berger, 1989; Kelly & Colangelo, 1990; Peterson, 2000). Success in life is not guaranteed by high academic achievement. It may be more practical for gifted people to choose an occupation that will allow them time to pursue a wide variety of interests beyond their workplace, such as the writers and actors who must pay their bills with "day jobs." The notion that the only acceptable postsecondary route for a student who is gifted is a college degree is outdated. There are many other specialized and more appropriate training paths that lead to fulfilling careers. There is also a need to plan beyond college because a 4-year degree should not be an end in itself and is also no guarantee of job success (Colangelo, 2003). For students who possess some of the psychological intensities often associated with giftedness, the academic overload associated with Advanced Placement and Honors courses and the subsequent stress, as well as stressors in new environments such as the college campus, may be particularly problematic (Piechowski, 1997).

Expectations of Others

Achieving students. Gifted and talented students often feel pressure from significant others in their lives, including parents, teachers, and counselors, to fulfill their promise, to live up to their highest potential, and to become the leaders of tomorrow. To gain approval or hold love, some gifted students may choose to behave according to the expectations of others rather than pursue personal fulfillment (Colozzi & Colozzi, 2000). Talented adolescents, especially the academically talented, are frequently pressured to select careers and colleges that others deem sufficiently challenging or esteemed, rather than ones based on their own personal strengths and interests. With a growing emphasis on gaining entrance to a small number of prestigious schools, feelings of obligation and sensitivity, to family expectations, especially for females, may force gifted youth to choose majors or colleges they do not really want (Randall, 1997; Reis, 1998; Ryan, 1999).

Underachieving students. If identification procedures for gifted programs rely solely on available academic data, such as subject grades or achievement test scores, many underachieving students who may be gifted will not be identified as such and will not receive appropriate career counseling. School counselors must recognize that underachieving gifted students have abilities, potential, and career aspirations and may need special attention to make their plans. An immature, bored, or troubled gifted student may not earn a high enough grade point average for admission to a prestigious college or for a big scholarship but will likely be able to attend college (Peterson, 2000). School counselors should nevertheless explore career options and encourage these students to make career plans and explore options for further education. Counselors are advised to focus on the student's interests rather than on grades and averages, and to explore factors that may contribute to the underachievement. There are literally thousands of postsecondary institutions to choose from, some of which emphasize portfolios, essays, or interviews more than test scores. It is important that counselors help students realize that underachievers in middle and high school can and do become high achievers as adults (Matthews & Foster, 2005; Peterson, 2000, 2002).

Special Populations

Beyond variables of ability and personality, uncontrollable factors such as socioeconomic status, race, gender, and sexual orientation also can affect the career decision-making of gifted students. Students who are economically disadvantaged, who are members of a minority culture, or who are not proficient in the school's dominant language may face additional obstacles to their career development. The list of obstacles is extensive, depending on the individual. These special populations of gifted and talented students may not receive support or challenge in their school environments. When combined with a lack of direct experience with higher education, discouragement from peers, and mixed messages about the value of college, gifted students may not be able to persevere through the career planning process (McIntosh & Greenlaw, 1990; Olszewski-Kubilius & Scott, 1992). Motivation to attend college may be high, but feelings of confidence and preparedness may be low due to the aforementioned issues. Counselors can play a key role in pointing out educational and career possibilities to these students who may have few others to advise them. School counselors also can advocate on behalf of minority students with college recruiters and seek financial aid options for gifted students living in poverty. In addition, regardless of socioeconomic level, race, or gender, gifted gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth may have safety concerns related to career choices (Peterson & Rischar, 2000). Their being able to talk about these concerns with a school counselor may be helpful.

The career decision-making process for gifted girls may be more stressful than for gifted boys because of earlier puberty and emotional maturation, along with imposition of higher and multiple societal ideals and their minority status in male-dominated occupational settings (Arnold, Noble, & Subotnik, 1999; Kerr, 1990; Reis, 1998). Gifted girls are believed to have less traditional sex-role orientation and a greater need to achieve in academic and occupational arenas than females in general (Kerr, 1997). However, they are also still susceptible to losses of self-confidence (Brown & Gilligan, 1992) and worsened sell-concept (Czeschlik & Rost, 1994). Furthermore, according to Gottfredson (1981) and Reis, the lowered occupational aspirations of girls may start as early as age 6, when children orient their occupational preferences to what they believe is acceptable for their gender. Girls' aspirations continue to be lowered and limited when they stop taking math and sciences as soon as these classes become optional. This choice, often occurring as early as Grade 7 or 8, restricts a girl's future career options (Kerr, 1997; Reis). Intellectually gifted girls have been found to attribute their academic achievement and success to luck, rather than to ability (Reis). This underestimation of their own abilities, combined with a lack of understanding of the growth and dynamism of intelligence, plays a role in their career development.

CAREER COUNSELING OF GIFTED STUDENTS

Appropriate career counseling recognizes that career development is an interconnected process with multiple, concurrent life issues, including developmental, social, and psychological transitions (Kelly, 1996; Perrone, 1997; Stewart, 1999; Super, 1980; Watts, 1996). The relation between career and other life roles is inseparable. There are many personal issues that influence careers, such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, values, and interests. At its best, career counseling is an extension of talent development, a lifelong process of forming accurate self-perceptions of ability, potential, and achievement (Kelly).

Gifted and talented students need to gain a realistic sense of work and careers by receiving career information and programming that is appropriate in depth, scope, and timing. Counselors would be well advised to avoid traditional, linear, and deductive career planning strategies; instead, they should encourage gifted teenagers to focus on being, by examining current interests and values, and on becoming, by recognizing that the means to a career is as important as the career itself (Perrone, 1997).

School counselors helping gifted students with career planning may wish to expand their repertoire of assessment tools. For instance, most aptitude and ability tests used in career counseling for the general population are of limited value for gifted students, because academically gifted students reach the ceiling of most of these tests. However, Achter, Lubinski, and Benbow (1996) Sound that conventional interest and value tools designed for adults proved useful with intellectually gifted teenagers. Another consideration is the format of an assessment. Conventional multiple-choice format assessments with rapid, repetitive tasks do not allow for the creative thinking that is demonstrated by some gifted students (Davis, 2003). Interest inventories that merely identify; rather than rank interests are also of little value to a student with potential and interest in many areas, and therefore forced-choice inventories can be more useful for gifted students, especially those who display multipotentiality. It is better that students learn to prioritize their interests and abilities so that they can make wise choices about appropriate high school courses and later training paths.

Along with traditional assessment tools, career counselors should encourage student self-reflection, mentorships, and experiential learning, all to aid students in evaluating their abilities and interests in ongoing goal-oriented career planning and decision-making. Students need to learn to identify personal strengths and focus on personal goals. Encouraging gifted and talented children and adolescents to explore many career options also can help them see the relevance of schooling, and an interest in a career path can help them maintain enough academic involvement and achievement to endure emotional and social difficulties sometimes experienced in the school setting (Matthews & Foster, 2005).

Counselors should encourage the exploration of a wide range of possibilities, with specific emphasis on societal and work trends. Focusing on finding a match to an existing occupation rather than creating one or matching an occupation with current abilities or interests ignores potential. Interests often change from adolescence to adulthood. The goal should be to help students understand that they are capable of creating their own futures. For example, they might be able to combine strong interests to create a career that does not exist now (Matthews & Foster, 2005; Perrone, 1997; Pyryt, 1993). Moreover, gifted individuals who desire work that is stimulating and engaging and that has room for self-actualization and creativity need to explore occupations that are open-ended in nature with potential for extensive professional growth, such as entrepreneurial or research endeavors (Davis & Rimm, 1998). Students also must learn about their chosen occupation's actual job activities, including such information as salaries, benefits, and responsibilities, because most gifted teenagers focus only on the lifestyle afforded by their chosen occupation and the personalities of people they know in that occupation (Perrone).

SELECTED STRATEGIES FOR CAREER/LIFE DEVELOPMENT OF GIFTED STUDENTS

The three overarching national standards of the American School Counselor Association (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) for career development provide valuable and specific suggestions for school counselors. The standards emphasize student knowledge of self to investigate the world of work, acquisition of career information and identification of career goals for success and satisfaction, and understanding the relationship among personal qualities, education, and work. School counselors operating with these standards are already well positioned to serve gifted and talented students. School career centers need to include resources that are appropriate for gifted students. Parental input during individual planning for every student, while preferable, may not be possible. Separate small-group career sessions for gifted and talented students can be beneficial, providing a forum for them to discuss not only career choices but also lifestyle implications of those choices.

Pairing gifted students with adult mentors in experiential learning activities can provide multiple benefits, not the least of which is an advanced or expert level of functioning that will offer intellectual challenge. For gifted students without local role models, biographies of people in areas of interest can fill the gap. Although gifted students will benefit from many of the same well-planned career and life development activities (listed below) offered to all students, counselors should consider adjusting the timing, pace, complexity, and intensity of the activities to better suit the advanced cognitive levels and/or unique internal and external issues discussed previously.

Elementary School

* Encourage activities that require goal setting and follow-through.

* Use biographies of eminent people to explore careers.

* Expose children to the world of work (visits to parents' workplace; guest speakers).

Middle School

* Organize volunteer work projects.

* Encourage entrepreneurship and/or leadership activities.

* Arrange job-shadowing experiences.

* Discuss the meaning and value of work.

* Introduce the concept of and build soft skills.

* Link students' hobbies and leisure activities to possible careers.

High School

* Encourage visits to a variety of postsecondary institutions.

* Identify, transferable skills.

* Set up internships or mentorships with professionals.

* Provide exposure to nonconventional careers and role models.

* Advise students to enroll in challenging courses and to focus on learning mastery rather than performance.

* Help students explore and clarify their personal values and career goals.

CONCLUSION

With trends in educational reform leaning toward accountability, high-stakes testing, and closing achievement gaps, it is understandable that school counseling programs may be emphasizing results-based accomplishments and effectiveness more than career counseling and other proactive counseling activities. That being said, the four pillars of the ASCA National Model[R] (American School Counselor Association, 2005) come to mind: advocacy, leadership, collaboration, and systemic change. For an effective career and life development and planning program, the entire school community must be involved. School counselors must remember that they can be change agents not only for the system, but also for the students served and the other personnel working in it. Counselors can be advocates for their gifted students, finding the resources and providing the guidance that students need to pursue their career dreams. Because counselors have knowledge of postsecondary and career opportunities, they can bring current and relevant information to gifted students and their families. Finally, school counselors are collaborators, accessing and bringing together people and available resources to assist in career development. Teachers are important partners in students' career development because they convey attitudes and provide content-specific information (Coleman & Cross, 2005). Involving parents of gifted students in the planning and decision-making process is essential because of their major influence on their children's careers and lives.

Career decision-making can be a highly stressful and difficult challenge for gifted and talented students and their families. The economy and global marketplace are constantly changing, and the cost of postsecondary training continues to rise. Gifted students are faced with the high expectations of others and their own unique traits and characteristics. School counselors who are aware of some of the issues facing many gifted and talented children and youth and who recognize the need for adjustments to traditional career counseling practices can lay important groundwork for these students on which to begin to build satisfying careers and lives.

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Meredith J. Greene, Ph.D., is an educational consultant for a public school district in Nova Scotia, Canada, and an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut and Bowling Green State University. E-mail: meredith.greene@ uconn.edu