From our earliest history, gifted women from Sappho and Harriet Tubman to Eleanor Roosevelt and Nadine Gordimer have enhanced our lives through their gifts and accomplishments. Since many of these gifted women have succeeded in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, it is often assumed that all gifted women will be able to achieve without outside help. However, many gifted women do not realize their potential and end up squandering their gifts in menial tasks, underpaid jobs, and unfulfilled lives. Thus, career development for gifted women is an essential task.For women who possess a variety of talents, one of the best ways to be fulfilled is through the balancing of multiple roles, such as family and work. Consequently, one aspect of career development, which is of great importance to gifted women in particular, is the decision about whether to engage in multiple roles and how to do so successfully. Since juggling multiple roles requires prior planning and serious commitment, one of the best ways to assist gifted young women in these tasks is to gain information about how the decision was made and determine their level of commitment to it. As with many career decisions, knowledge about, and encouragement for, particular choices may depend upon mentors and role models.Mentors and role models can be invaluable but their impact in helping with preparation for a lifestyle involving multiple roles is unknown. To determine who their mentors and role models are and how they affect attitudes toward multiple roles, 101 gifted high school women completed a demographics question and the Attitudes Toward Multiple Role Planning scale (ATMRP). Data were analyzed via frequency counts, chisquare, and MANOVA procedures.Contrary to expectations, study participants did not have significantly more role models than they did mentors nor was any one group mentioned most often as mentors and role models. As anticipated, most gifted young women did plan to combine family and paid employment in their lives. However, no significant group differences on the A'TMRP were found between those with mentors and role models and those without. Conclusions and implications are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services