5 Skills Every Dad Should Inculcate In His Daughter

Scientific studies claim that both sexes are endowed with unique mental strengths that are first shaped by brain circuitry and then reinforced by gender norms. We look at the so-called ‘man’ skills that every girl could pick up from Dad.

- Rajashree Balaram

Why do girls pick up language faster than boys? Why do boys crack LEGO with deft ease? According to popular theory endorsed by psychologists, male and female brains are fundamentally different. A University of Pennsylvania study claimed that from adolescence onwards, men’s brains have more connections within each hemisphere, whereas women’s brains have more cross connections between the hemispheres. This is why men’s brains work differently in significant ways making them better at some tasks like navigating, just as women’s unique mental wiring makes them strong in intuition and memory. The good news is just as there is a lot that men need to learn from women, there are vital skills too that can be grasped by women from men, especially by a girl from her dad in her formative years. We have rounded up five such key skills.

1 spatial ability

A textbook definition of this ability (also known as visuo-spatial ability) is the capacity to understand, reason and remember the spatial relations between objects. It is the innate skill you rely on when you are navigating through any space, understanding or fixing an object, comprehending directions or measuring distances, etc. “It is now well-known that fine spatial skills can give kids that crucial edge when it comes to their performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics),” says Bengaluru based clinical psychologist Dr. Geetha Appachu. “Arithmetic can be a breeze for kids who have good visuo-spatial aptitude. Some also studies suggest that testosterone levels can be a big marker in spatial skills, but there is compelling evidence to prove that these abilities can be improved with practice,” she adds.