See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on How 1000 Girls Became Successful Women

To help parents raise daughters who become happy and successful women, Rimm, a child psychologist and author (Dr. Sylvia Rimm's Smart Parenting, etc.), went directly to the source: women who define themselves as successful, both personally and professionally. She and her two coauthor daughters surveyed more than 1000 women to determine the factors that made the difference. Businesswomen, doctors and nurses, scientists, artists, teachers and homemakers participated in the three-year study. Presented in chapters on school issues, peer and family relationships, recreational activities and other formative experiences, some of the findings support the common wisdom: for example, many successful women began talking and reading early. Others challenge accepted ideas, such as that all-female schools succeed better at fostering an interest in science, and that women who perceive themselves as ""good girls"" don't achieve as much. Each chapter also includes somewhat dry case studies and useful prescriptions for applying the book's insights to today's girls. Although the portrayals of those in medicine and the sciences tend to be a little more flattering than those of women in other fields (perhaps because all three authors are doctors), this study nonetheless offers parents, teachers, researchers and women a valuable framework for linking childhood experiences to achievement. 8-city author tour. (June)