Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
If there is one theme that has been consistent across the inaugural series of Secret Genius, the brilliant Alan Carr and Susie Dent-fronted Channel 4 gameshow that has scoured the width and breadth of the country for undiscovered Einsteins, it is that women tend to shockingly underestimate their abilities.
The show has seen regular Joes – and Joannes – from all walks of life compete in fiendish, Mensa-produced puzzles designed to test the skills that make up an IQ score. As it turns out, women have just as high an aptitude for this kind of thing – or possibly even higher, if the show is anything to go by – as men. Although the final, airing on 1 March, is an even gender split of two female and two male contestants, the semi-final lineup was two-thirds women.
“Statistically, men and women score very similarly on general intelligence,” says Dr Sonja Falck, a Mensa member and psychotherapist who specialises in psychosocial issues related to high IQ.
“There is no substantial difference at all in average intelligence. However, there is a difference in distribution of specific abilities, with men having a tendency to score higher on spatial-related tasks and women likely to score higher on verbal-related tasks.”
Clearly, lack of intelligence is not an issue – but lack of confidence just might be. The Secret Genius contestants neatly epitomised this handicap. Take Ollie, the ambulance crew driver with a photographic memory who nevertheless had to contend with crippling nerves (and only entered the competition out of “morbid curiosity” to see if she was “dim-witted and just good at remembering stuff”).
Or sports management consultant Jo, held back by shyness and a propensity to compare herself to her more extroverted brother, who nearly lost one game against the clock because she simply could not believe she’d got an answer correct the first time.
Or finalist Amy, a pharmacist, crochet enthusiast and mother of two, whose biggest weakness is “getting in my own way”; her lack of self-belief stemmed from having been bullied as a child. Seeing her overcome her own mammoth self-doubt and steadily grow in confidence as she smashed challenge after challenge has been one of the most poignant and beautiful parts of the show. Whether or not she is crowned the UK’s first “Secret Genius” is almost irrelevant. She’s still a winner, having proven to herself – and those school bullies – once and for all, just how remarkable she is.
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Alan Carr and Susie Dent present ‘Secret Genius’, which has reportedly been renewed for a second series (Channel 4)
This reticence of women to put themselves forward, and potential propensity to underplay their intelligence and abilities, is borne out by Mensa data. The gender breakdown of self-selecting applicants for the world’s largest and oldest high-IQ society is roughly two-thirds men (66 per cent) and one-third women (34 per cent): the exact reverse of the Secret Genius semi-finalist gender split.
Clearly, there are various cultural issues at play here – including the fact that, according to Dr Falck, men with high intelligence are more likely to struggle socially than their high IQ female peers, leading them to actively pursue the social aspect offered by a club like Mensa.
But one factor is undoubtedly the persistent problem of imposter syndrome, which plagues an estimated 70 per cent of working women in the UK. A quote that often gets bandied about is that men will apply for a job when they meet only 60 per cent of criteria in the job spec, whereas women only apply if they meet 100 per cent of requirements.
Research by Harvard Business School associate professor Katherine B Coffman, published in 2024, gave weight to this assertion: her study suggested that talented women are more likely to shy away from applying for job opportunities, particularly more advanced, higher-paying positions, because they’re concerned they aren’t qualified enough. On the flipside, the research found that men don’t seem to worry about their skills matching the specific job requirements as much.
Culturally and historically, there’s a huge slant towards favouring men in educational settings
Dr Sonja Falck, Mensa member
So what’s going on here?
“Culturally and historically, there’s a huge slant towards favouring men in educational settings, seeing men as the ones who need investment in developing their abilities, because they are traditionally the breadwinner,” says Dr Falck. “That’s still the case in a lot of cultures, and so that does lead to women not identifying with that kind of image of intelligence.”
In her own research, she’s found that girls are often given the messages: don’t outperform men; tone down your smartness or aptitude because it’s unattractive in heterosexual relationships and “no man will want you” if they feel threatened.
“In certain cultures, that’s quite a prominent message, where you’re actually told to not outperform your husband because he’s the head of the house, and he’s the person who needs to feel confident,” Dr Falck explains. “There’s lots of gender politics around in heterosexual relationships and that still very much affects the encouragement that women receive to show their abilities, or trust them, or feel proud of them.”
The irony of all of this is that, for the first time in history, women are surpassing men educationally in many countries.
The reversal of the gender gap in higher education has been “a major social transformation”, according to one study; women now outnumber men in higher education in nearly all OECD nations.
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Amy overcame self-doubt and grew in confidence as the ‘Secret Genius’ competition progressed (Channel 4)
In the UK, for example, 13 per cent more women than men go on to higher education and four per cent more men drop out in their first year. This education gap is already being reflected in heterosexual relationships; for the first time in history, “hypogamy” is on the rise, referring to when women “marry down” – ie pair up with a less-educated or less wealthy man than themselves.
Even the fact that women have a proclivity to downplay what they’re capable of could be, in and of itself, a sign of intelligence. Though sweeping generalisations will never apply to everyone, intelligence testing shows that women often display more competence than men when it comes to emotional intelligence. “So reading social cues and nuances, reading facial expressions,” says Dr Falck. “This can help them outperform men in situations where being able to correctly read a situation advantages their performance.”
However, it can also be a disadvantage, “because if they read facial expressions where they’re being disapproved of or somebody is not feeling comfortable, women might hold back on showing what they can do. They’re sensitive and don’t want to upset the people around them.”
In instances where men are less sensitive to those nuances, meanwhile, “they are more willing to be independent and analytical; they’re not going to be held back in performing based on the social cues around them”.
I was good in school, but it was something I never really had the confidence to shout about
Amy, ‘Secret Genius’ finalist
The good news is that Secret Genius has unequivocally proven that women are just as capable as men when it comes to logic, problem-solving and analytical thinking. For finalist Amy, going through the process has had a phenomenal impact on her confidence. “I was good in school and all of that, but it was something I never really had the confidence to shout about,” she tells me. “Nobody ever pointed out to me that my achievements didn’t diminish others, and I carried the responsibility for that.”
Over the years, she stopped shouting about her achievements full stop – stopped believing she deserved them in the first place, in fact. “The imposter syndrome crept in,” she says. Going through the Secret Genius process and progressing all the way to the final has shifted that attitude. “Everyone’s commented that I am a completely different person now. I used to talk a good game and be quite good at ‘fake it till you make it’, but now I actually do believe in myself and have that confidence.”
This newfound self-belief has led Amy to return to university to do her independent prescribing qualification – a dream she’s had ever since graduating the first time around. Amy hopes, too, that seeing her self-esteem build will help her five-year-old daughter believe in her own abilities. “I want her to see her mum standing up there and doing that, showing that you can be anything you want to be,” she says.
We can’t be what we can’t see, as the saying goes. Hopefully, watching unsung talent showcased on national television could be the start of more women seeing that they could be the real secret geniuses, after all.
