Parenting of Nobel Prize winners: Their experiences and insights

The literature on parental influence in the development of talent among gifted children points to certain factors as being highly significant. This project examines parenting beliefs and practices that concern a small group of individual who have achieved extreme levels of talented performance: winning a Nobel Prize. Over a dozen of individual interviews were conducted through either personal interviews or phone interviews with Nobel laureates, who won the Prize in physics, economics, or chemistry. Analysis of the first four interviews revealed that these Nobel Prize winners have some common as well as unique experiences and beliefs about parenting. Six major categories are discussed, and it is hoped that the findings and implications of this study will be of interest to a broad audience including, not only parents, but also teachers, practitioners, researchers and others, and will provide valuable information on how to better help the young population achieve talented performance across different areas.