See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on How 1,000 Girls Became Successful Women [Hardcover]

Sylvia Rimm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1999

Noted child psychologist Sylvia Rimm, along with her daughters, a research psychologist and a pediatric oncology researcher, conducted an extensive three-year survey among more than one thousand satisfied women who have achieved success in their careers. She explored in depth these women's childhoods, adolescences, and young adulthoods, noting what the women had in common and culling from her findings important advice on how parents can give their own daughters the same advantages.

Based on extensive original research, See Jane Win provides invaluable advice for helping girls deal with such issues as middle-school grade decline, math anxieties, eating disorders, social and academic insecurities, feelings of being different, self-esteem and competition, the career-family balance, and the glass ceiling. Included are profiles of seventeen women in disparate careers that illuminate the rewards and penalties of linear versus delayed career patterns and show us the typical pathways for women in specific fields, including medicine, science, law, business, education, politics, and the arts.

Despite the many victories of the women's movement, little girls are still given negative messages about their potential and prospects. Dr. Rimm shows parents how to combat those messages and give their daughters the confidence and skills they need to follow in the footsteps of the successful women surveyed.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

See Jane Win is a parents' guide for turning girls into happy, successful women. Child psychologist Sylvia Rimm, along with her daughters--a research psychologist and a pediatric-oncology researcher--spent three and a half years collecting data and conducting interviews to devise the 20 basic points detailed in this book. Their conclusions were based in large part on a detailed questionnaire completed by over 1,400 women with successful careers in a variety of fields, including science and technology, media, the arts, medicine, law, and education. (Homemaking and volunteer work do receive some token attention, but there is a clear professional bias in their definition of success.) Their goal is to "identify the essential childhood elements that encouraged these women to achieve fulfilling careers" in order to alert other parents to them. In this, they achieve their aim. See Jane Win is well organized and informative. Even if some of the advice leans toward common sense, the combination of professional opinion and personal experience is an effective one, animating statistics that could otherwise be as dry as chalk dust.

In the Rimms' findings, education emerges as the key common denominator. High academic expectations, good study habits, strong math and science skills, and a love of reading (no television!) are all stressed. They also encourage parents to resist the urge to overprotect girls, and recommend fostering a healthy love of competition in order to build self-confidence. Indeed, self-esteem is a major underlying theme of the book. The authors discuss in detail how to combat eating disorders, social insecurities, and the negative image of women often portrayed in the media.

Overall, this is a useful compendium of sound advice and enlightening case studies that ultimately serves to underscore one vital point: Parents do make a difference. Sugar and spice are certainly nice, but See Jane Win offers a more substantial recipe for the raising of daughters. --Shawn Carkonen

From Publishers Weekly

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)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Crown; Gift edition (April 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517706660
• ISBN-13: 978-0517706664
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,361,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Motivational but biased, November 4, 1999

By 

"neeterskeeter27" (http://www.neeterskeeter.com/new) - See all my reviews

This review is from: See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on How 1,000 Girls Became Successful Women (Hardcover)

As a woman in her first year of college, this book really encouraged me- by giving statistics and stories of women who had "made it"- that I can accomplish my dreams. I loved reading about the successful women and finding out about their lives. However I felt the book was horribly biased against women who were happy in their chosen careers as mothers and/or traditional jobs such as teaching or nursing. Just because these women took the traditional route doesn't mean they aren't successful, but even when the women said they were satisfied or happy with thier jobs, the authors presented them as blantantly "Unsuccessful" and unworthy. Many of the successful women in the study had had mothers who stayed at home with them, and although it was a different time, I am sure that this is what contributed greatly to the women in the studies success, and they may have to sacrifice their own daughter's success because they are so busy living their own. I liked this book and would recommend it to any woman, teenage girl, or parent, but I would also suggest doubling it with a book that gives a better appreciation for REAL success that is more fulfilling than becoming a better statistic or making more money, something that these authors failed to even mention. That was their biggest downfall and the only big problem I had with this book.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book shows that girls must learn to compete., May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on How 1,000 Girls Became Successful Women (Hardcover)

Dr. Rimm has completed an exhaustive study of the childhood and adolesence of girls who become successful women. Her study gives valuable insights into how we should raise our daughters. Dr. Rimm shows that successful women liked to compete when they were young. After reading the book I won't hesitate to encourage competitiveness in my daughters, who sometimes back away from competition in the classroom. Every teacher should read this book because bright girls are not always encouraged to be competitive. Dr. Rimm points out that parents should present a united front and tell their daughters that to succeed in the real world they must deal with competition and welcome it. Success in the adult world only happens when women compete successfully with their peers, both men and women. Dr. Rimm's book contains many inspiring case histories about world renown women. These busy, successful women apparently participated in the study with the hope that their story would inspire young girls to work hard and achieve. There is no other book that summarizes the attitudes and behavior of 1000 girls who later become successful women. There is much food for thought in this book and it will initiate many interesting followup studies of girls who rise to prominence. If you have a daughter, this is a must book.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Hints for Being a Better Father to Your Daughter, February 20, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on How 1,000 Girls Became Successful Women (Paperback)

As a father of a 14 year old daughter, I am always looking for ways to be more helpful to her.

As you can imagine, my helpful ideas are not always well received despite my best intentions. I was delighted to see this quantitative characterization of the circumstances that led to the maturation of successful, happy women.

I read with equal enthusiasm the parts for fathers and mothers, and have shared key aspects of this book with both my wife and daughter. As someone who believes in high standards, I was relieved to find that that was a good thing to do (whew!), and learned some new ways to provide those high standards in more supportive and comfortable ways for my daughter.

Casual conversations usually do not keep my attention for long, but this book taught me that these are important to my daughter. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much our relationship improved when I put more effort and attention into these occasions. Perhaps the biggest (happy) surprise was to see how much longer my daughter works on her homework than these hard-working, successful women did when they were young. I felt much more relaxed about my daughter's prospects, as a result. Usually books about parenting leave me feeling more uncomfortable than when I started. But not this one!

On the negative side, I found two important weaknesses in the book. The authors kindly provide a nice summary in the beginning. However, the summary doesn't quite capture the lessons in the book in the same way that the advice and stories in the chapters do. Secondly, a better methodology for this study would have been to equally study women who had unhappy lives with successful careers and women with happy lives and unsuccessful careers to see what is truly different about the rearing of those who are both happy and successful. Perhaps there will be a second book that will develop that point.

In the meantime, I recommend this book to everyone who cares about young women's happiness, including the young women themselves. You are bound to pick up some self-confidence about what you are doing right, and some ideas for how to improve where you may not be.

You can do it!