There is much talk about Somali IQ scores plastered over the internet but little if any mention of the adversity encountered by Somalis back home which work against IQ gains. For one, you cannot separate the social, cultural, political and economic contexts of a nation when interpreting IQ scores. It’s obvious that educational permeation (the degree to which education has permeated a population in society) is very low in Somalia. We could flesh out details about certain regions having greater social well-being and economic outcomes but as things stand collectively from North-to-South the picture is one of disparity in learning opportunities. These barriers can include geographic accessibility (rural vs. urban), access to funds (as education is predominately fee for access) and gender (female vs. male) with females having exceedingly low school literacy rates that are nearly half of their male counterparts.
Rarely will you find a high IQ individual robbed of formal learning opportunities, experiencing prolonged starvation, personal experiences of trauma or trans generational trauma brought on by war. Nutritional deprivation can impact subsequent generations and experiences of chronic stress negatively effect brain function. Imagine being in constant survival mode. This would result in a precipitous dip in ability to perform higher order tasks. We are also unaware of epigenetic effects that could be passed on intergenerationally.
I suggest refraining from ever using this 68 IQ figure since members of the Somali diaspora are a privileged lot and have been on the receiving end of the Flynn effect (with gains experienced from living in lands that are significantly more equitable, with better nutrition, health and living standards). I’d be cautious over parroting the results of this study by Bakhiet et al. (2017) on Somali children from a Kenyan Refugee Camp. The study was methodologically flawed with one of the co-authors having a dubious history as a researcher (Richard Lynn). That’s enough to lose credibility. Here were other issues in the study:
1. All the researchers were foreigners (3 from Southern Arabia, 1 East Asian, 1 European) and judging by the tone the article was written in they clearly lack cultural-sensitivity and awareness training.
2. No intelligence test is full proof including Raven Progressive Matrices (RPM) which Psychometrists claim is the most culture-free. The RPM doesn’t quite work as well when administered to individuals that are non-English speakers from non-literate societies (with vastly divergent views on what constitutes intellectual success). Before the advent of formal education in Somalia (which also includes religious instruction) Somalis deemed one as intelligent if they were good at performing practical tasks, debate skills were also a sign of intellectual prowess particularly among Guurti (a counsel of elders).
3. Given that Somalis are still predominately nomadic and think more so in concrete terms and filter their understanding of the world through direct experience. They have not been classically trained to understand abstraction and hypothetical reasoning. How could they score highly on such a test? Its set up for them to fail.
4. "No information about the frequency of school attendance for enrolled children." The authors failed to account for age of entry into schooling and previous years of exposure to formal learning. For instance, in Somalia it’s not uncommon for children to begin school as late as early adolescence or have disruptions in their learning.
5. They made it seem as though IQ was static and failed to declare their biases, assumptions and thoroughly outline the study’s limitations. Also, other studies have shown changes in IQ across the life course especially during adolescence.
6. Another important consideration they didn’t make were the socioeconomic conditions of individuals in refugee camps to that of the Kenyan population which are stark. Kenya limits refugees right to work and freedom of movement and in comparing Somali refugees with locals, they do worse across all other living standard indicators.
We should ALL refrain from propagating this Somali IQ farce. It reflects poorly on us. Joking about it only gives life to this mistruth. I think you owe it to yourselves to be more socially responsible about what you write online. As there are many young people here. Repeating this could potentially harm their academic self-confidence. Particularly those that already undermine their abilities and easily fall into the narrative trap of Somalis as suffering intellectually. When this notion is contrary to the anecdotal accounts I’ve witnessed. Even the colonials (I don’t like quoting them) indicated the craftiness of Somalis.
Somalis under the British system of education (prior to the 70s) in Amoud and Sheekh Secondary Schools outperformed their English counterparts on the General Certificate of Examination on their O-levels. I rest my case.
Rarely will you find a high IQ individual robbed of formal learning opportunities, experiencing prolonged starvation, personal experiences of trauma or trans generational trauma brought on by war. Nutritional deprivation can impact subsequent generations and experiences of chronic stress negatively effect brain function. Imagine being in constant survival mode. This would result in a precipitous dip in ability to perform higher order tasks. We are also unaware of epigenetic effects that could be passed on intergenerationally.
I suggest refraining from ever using this 68 IQ figure since members of the Somali diaspora are a privileged lot and have been on the receiving end of the Flynn effect (with gains experienced from living in lands that are significantly more equitable, with better nutrition, health and living standards). I’d be cautious over parroting the results of this study by Bakhiet et al. (2017) on Somali children from a Kenyan Refugee Camp. The study was methodologically flawed with one of the co-authors having a dubious history as a researcher (Richard Lynn). That’s enough to lose credibility. Here were other issues in the study:
1. All the researchers were foreigners (3 from Southern Arabia, 1 East Asian, 1 European) and judging by the tone the article was written in they clearly lack cultural-sensitivity and awareness training.
2. No intelligence test is full proof including Raven Progressive Matrices (RPM) which Psychometrists claim is the most culture-free. The RPM doesn’t quite work as well when administered to individuals that are non-English speakers from non-literate societies (with vastly divergent views on what constitutes intellectual success). Before the advent of formal education in Somalia (which also includes religious instruction) Somalis deemed one as intelligent if they were good at performing practical tasks, debate skills were also a sign of intellectual prowess particularly among Guurti (a counsel of elders).
3. Given that Somalis are still predominately nomadic and think more so in concrete terms and filter their understanding of the world through direct experience. They have not been classically trained to understand abstraction and hypothetical reasoning. How could they score highly on such a test? Its set up for them to fail.
4. "No information about the frequency of school attendance for enrolled children." The authors failed to account for age of entry into schooling and previous years of exposure to formal learning. For instance, in Somalia it’s not uncommon for children to begin school as late as early adolescence or have disruptions in their learning.
5. They made it seem as though IQ was static and failed to declare their biases, assumptions and thoroughly outline the study’s limitations. Also, other studies have shown changes in IQ across the life course especially during adolescence.
6. Another important consideration they didn’t make were the socioeconomic conditions of individuals in refugee camps to that of the Kenyan population which are stark. Kenya limits refugees right to work and freedom of movement and in comparing Somali refugees with locals, they do worse across all other living standard indicators.
We should ALL refrain from propagating this Somali IQ farce. It reflects poorly on us. Joking about it only gives life to this mistruth. I think you owe it to yourselves to be more socially responsible about what you write online. As there are many young people here. Repeating this could potentially harm their academic self-confidence. Particularly those that already undermine their abilities and easily fall into the narrative trap of Somalis as suffering intellectually. When this notion is contrary to the anecdotal accounts I’ve witnessed. Even the colonials (I don’t like quoting them) indicated the craftiness of Somalis.
Somalis under the British system of education (prior to the 70s) in Amoud and Sheekh Secondary Schools outperformed their English counterparts on the General Certificate of Examination on their O-levels. I rest my case.
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And what do you intend to do with the hand you were dealt?
They search it out endlessly to reinforce a dopamine-driven feedback loop.
The reason for tahribing is due to political instability and or limited opportunities, obviously. They don't have a fair shot in their home countries. Flight to the west comes from zero sum game politics plaguing many African leaders and their cronies.
