Raising Confident Daughters: Eight Ideas for Parents

In a culture saturated with digitally altered images and impossible-to-achieve standards, raising your daughters to be confident in themselves and their abilities is no easy task.

However, raising your daughter's confidence is essential to her pursuing her dreams and reaching her full potential in life.

In this article, we will share eight ways you can help your daughter become her best, most confident self right now.

 

How Important Is Confidence for Girls?

Girls who are confident in their abilities to learn new things and tackle difficult challenges are more likely to do well in their academic and post-grad careers.

They are also more likely to pursue career paths that are often perceived as male dominant, such as engineering or computer science.

In addition, confidence can increase your daughter's earning potential, no matter her chosen career path.

A young woman with a high sense of self-worth is more likely to ask for a raise, take on a challenging and well-paid leadership role, or advocate for fair workplace compensation policies.

She is also more likely to stand up for herself and others while using her voice to create real change in the world.

 

Raising Confident Daughters: Eight Ideas for Parents

1. Model body acceptance

Try to always talk about your body in a positive way.

Keep in mind that your daughter can also detect your body language. 

Being comfortable in your own skin may also help your daughter feel more confident in herself.

2. Direct your praise away from her appearance

Positive encouragement can do wonders for your daughter’s confidence and self-worth.

However, you should avoid directing the majority of compliments towards her appearance.

Instead, try to compliment her on who she is and what she does—her kindness, positivity, problem-solving skills, etc.

3. Focus on effort, not performance

While you want to acknowledge your daughters' achievements, you may want to avoid praising her on her achievements alone.

Switch the focus from outcomes to the effort, perseverance, and grit she demonstrates.

When she encounters obstacles, have open, honest conversations about what setbacks really mean and why they are not a measure of her worth as a person.

4. Foster her passions

Consider getting your daughters involved in activities that teach them new skills and help them express themselves.

Give them the freedom to explore different hobbies until they find something they become passionate about.

They will be more likely to stick to an activity (and develop confidence in their own abilities) if it aligns with their interests.

5. Move away from gender stereotypes

Try to involve your daughter in activities that are traditionally considered to be dominated by males, such as team sports and robotics.

The earlier you show your daughters they are more than capable of achieving the same level of success in these areas as their male counterparts, the more confident in their abilities they will be later in life.

6. Limit media consumption

Media has a tendency to portray women in objectifying ways which can be damaging for a young girl’s confidence.

Be careful about what magazines you have in the house and what TV shows you watch while your daughter is present.

Teach her to develop a critical eye for what’s being shown in the media.

For example, you can watch TV together—talk about your observations to help her decode and filter media messages.

7. Encourage her to stand up for herself

Raising your daughter to be a people pleaser will not help her confidence.

Encourage her to stand up for herself, to create developmental opportunities and use her own voice.

Ask “What do you want?” — then honor her choice, even if it’s not what you originally anticipated.

8. Make sure she knows you love her

While kids are very reliant on the feedback from their peers, what their parents think of them matters just as much.

Make sure your daughter knows she’s loved and cared for regardless of her looks, achievements, or performance.

 

Why Choose Marlborough?

Marlborough is exclusively devoted to the education of young women. 

Weaving together engineering, digital arts, robotics, media, academic research, and entrepreneurship, the Shari and Ed Glazer Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Marlborough delivers a superior college preparatory education in an environment imbued with high ethical values.

Here at Marlborough, we don’t just teach girls to keep pace with the changing future.

Instead, we teach them to boldly pursue ideas which set the pace for the future.

 

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