According to a study done by the University of Essex, a firstborn son is 13 per cent less ambitious when compared to a firstborn daughter. If you look at how many accomplished sons have played important roles in our culture, you can imagine the power the eldest daughter has. People like Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey are firstborn, as well as many other powerful and influential women. Science is now realizing that it’s no coincidence that many of the world’s most accomplished females were born first. Both Beyoncé and J.K. Rowling were born with high ambitions and a strong drive to achieve their lofty goals. Scientific American states that eldest daughters are more likely to succeed by a large percentage when compared to their siblings.
They Naturally Achieve More
While eldest children in general are 16 per cent more likely to go to post-secondary school, it is the girls that are likely to have better qualifications by a 4 per cent margin. When we look at Nobel prizewinners and US presidents, over half of them were firstborns. While it was mostly men that took those honors, the eldest daughter still comes out as more ambitious and accomplished on average. They excel in school due to intelligence, but also have a drive to get to where they want to be.
They Are Top Scientists
Look at the female scientists that are eldest sisters: Jane Goodall, Dr. Susan Greenfield, and Jocelyn Bell. Not only did they display intelligence, being at the top of their respective fields, but they were also ambitious enough to go beyond what a scientist would normally do. Take Jane Goodall for instance, risking her life to protect the gorillas. That’s an achievement in itself.
They Have Parental Investment
One of the reasons attributed to the eldest daughter being the most accomplished is the time and energy they received as the firstborn. Regardless of the professional statuses of the parents, firstborn children were 7 per cent more likely to continue on with their education than their younger brothers or sisters. The report Sibling Configurations, Educational Aspiration and Attainment followed over a thousand sibling groups. Gender mixes among siblings were studied with no evidence that the second sibling’s sex made a difference when it came to levels of aspiration.
They Are The World’s Most Powerful Women, According to Forbes
Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde, Sheryl Sandberg, along with Oprah Winfrey and Beyoncé, are all on the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women. Each of them are the eldest daughters in their families. To gain this kind of notoriety takes more than just education, there is a certain drive and ambition that these women have.
They Are Statistically More Likely To Achieve Success
A study by Feifei Bu at the Institute for Social and Economic Research from the University of Essex proves that the eldest daughter is statistically more ambitious and well-qualified than her siblings. These days, parents are more equal in the way they treat their children, so success is achieved regardless of other advantages. Studies showed that if there was an age gap of more than four years between siblings, there would be an improvement in the younger sibling’s level of educational qualifications. The wider the gap, the better the chances. There are many explanations as to why the eldest daughter reaches a higher level of achievement than that of her siblings. It hasn’t been scientifically proven why exactly the eldest daughter is usually more accomplished than her siblings, but the statistics speak for themselves.
