By Grace Manning, Head Writer With every passing semester, class, and textbook, we hear about the same names in psychology; Freud, Skinner, Maslow...but this month we’re asking, where are all the women? It seems that there is a gender gap - whether it's about their contributions to the field or as the focus of studies, women seem to be left out of the narrative in psychology. As a part of Women’s History Month, there is a push to give women recognition they so rightfully deserve as researchers and for the contributions they have made in the field. Women and PsychologyWhen you think of the name Freud, most think of Sigmund Freud. However, did you know that he had a daughter, Anna, who also made major contributions within the psychological field? Why are the contributions of women so quickly and frequently excluded from the narrative? Contributions from those such as Mary Whiton Carkins, the first female president of the American Psychological Association; Karen Horney, who challenged Freud’s work with feminine psychology and coined the term “womb envy”; or Leta Stetter Hollingworth, who’s work in women’s psychology had challenged the popular belief of women’s intellectual inferiority due to menstruation. This, however, is only a glimpse into the ways women have changed psychology. Additionally, there is a profound effort in ensuring there is intersectional perspectives within psychology, often from the contributions of women of colour within the field. Women such as Inez Beverly Prosser, who broke boundaries by becoming the first Black woman to complete a PhD in psychology, or Mamie Phipps Clark, whose life's work was to study racial preferences and identities in Black children. Not to mention women such as Reiko True, who was lobbied for accessible mental health care for Asian Americans. These women have worked in a profession they love, with the hope they would touch the lives of others but were unaware of the difference their impact has made. Why Women’s Representation in Psychology Matters
Grace is an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph, and a Head Writer on GetPsyched. Are you interested in submitting a post to GetPsyched? Make sure you fill out our submission form and send it back to us so we can showcase your ideas!
Edited by Tavia Kiwanuka-Quinlan.
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