PIONEERING WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGY: THE OVERLOOKED CONTRIBUTION OF SELECTED WELL-KNOWN AND LESSER-KNOWN WOMEN IN THE FIELD OF PSYCHOLOGY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61357/sehs.v19i1.9Keywords:
history of psychology, feminism, Mary Whiton Calkins, Karen Horney, Anna Freud, Mamie Phipps Clark, Beatrice Edgell, genderAbstract
This article examines the significant contributions of five extraordinary women in the history of psychology – Mary Whiton Calkins, Karen Horney, Anna Freud, Mamie Phipps Clark and Beatrice Edgell. These figures broke gender and racial barriers at a time when women and African Americans faced systemic barriers in psychology. Mary Whiton Calkins, the APA’s first female president, shaped cognitive psychology and created a self psychology that rejected gender stereotypes. Karen Horney criticized Freud’s psychoanalysis and founded feminist psychology, emphasizing cultural and social factors. Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud, contributed to child psychoanalysis and explored defence mechanisms in children. Mamie Phipps Clark, with her “doll studies”, revealed the psychological impact of racial segregation and provided evidence in Brown v. Board of Education. Her research shaped the landmark decision that overturned racial segregation in public schools. Beatrice Edgell, a British pioneer of university education, was the first woman in Europe to earn a doctorate in psychology and she systematically devoted herself to memory research. These women undoubtedly influenced the development of psychology, but their contributions have often been overlooked, thus the purpose of this article is to illuminate and celebrate their important role in shaping the field. The article also considers the question of how the recognition and acceptance of women in America and Europe compares historically and asks whether women in psychological practice emerged earlier in Europe or in the United States.
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