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Topic: 10 most influential women in Psychology’s History

While Psychology is considered as a young science, it is without a doubt, one of the

most progressive disciplines today. With its Philosophical roots dating back to the 1800s

(Jhangani, 2017), to gradually establishing it as a valid and evidence-based field in the 19 th

century, today, Psychology has become even more progressive looking beyond theory and

moving towards to more scientific and reliable approaches of understanding and treating

mental well-being (Anand, 2022).

History tells us that two men working in the 19 th century are generally credited as being

the founders of Psychology as a Science and an academic discipline – Wilhelm Wundt and

William James (Jhangani, 2017). There are other prevalent names in Psychology who are being

credited for their numerous contribution and progressive paradigm shifts that lead to what

Psychology is today – Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Carl Rogers, Ivan Pavlov, etc. Notice that

majority of these publicly known Psychologists are men as Patriarchy as early as the Greeks. In

fact, Plato himself tells us in his Socratic dialogue, Meno, that a man’s virtue is to be competent

to manage the affairs of his city, and to manage them so as to benefit his friends and harm his

enemies, and to take care to avoid suffering harm himself, while a woman’s virtue is no

difficulty in describing it as the duty of ordering the house well, looking after the property

indoors, and obeying her husband. This is the reason why most of the branches and disciplines

in science have “fathers” as their founders. However, as we continue to progress as a society,

our fight in promoting feminism in the field of science is just beginning.

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From child psychoanalysis to racial identity studies, women are responsible for some of the

most influential work in Psychology. Women also are behind critical findings related to

attachment theory, play therapy, feminist psychology, and experimental psychotherapy.

However, for much of the field’s history, the role of women in psychology received little

recognition. Like Calkins before them, many female pioneers in Psychology were denied

degrees because they were women, and some faced obstacles in garnering positions in which

they could study their psychological theories and publish the results (Maryville University,

2022). It is imperative that we give recognition to these brave women who, despite facing

obstacles in the academic and scientific communities, made key contributions in the field’s first

100 years.

1. Mary Whiton Calkins – During the 1800s only men were awarded completion of doctoral

degrees. However, Calkins was the first ever female to complete a doctoral degree in

Psychology. She was not awarded the degree, but she served as catalyst of change as

she became the first woman president of the American Psychological Association (APA)

and developed the paired-associate learning technique (Maryville University, 2022).

Today, she serves as an inspiration to all women not only in Psychology, but in the field

of Science, that women can thrive and contribute greatly to the success of Science.

2. Anna Freud – The last name is quite familiar as she is the daughter of Sigmund Freud,

the pioneer of Psychoanalysis. However, she did not live in the shadows of her father as

she developed the Psychoanalytic Child Psychology and the concept of Defense
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Mechanism. Her studies influenced how medical and judicial systems treat children

today (Maryville University, 2022).

3. Inez Prosser – In the mid-1900s, segregation of race in the educational system in the

United States was prevalent. Inez, on the other hand, was very persistent in finishing her

graduate studies and eventually became one of the first Black women to receive and

complete a doctoral degree in Psychology (Ludy, Henry, Mcmahon, 2005). She

pioneered the study on “The Nonacademic Development of Negro Children in Mixed

and Segregated Schools” (Maryville University, 2022). This contributed greatly to the

desegregation in the educational system in the 20th century.

4. Ellen Kitch Childs – She is one of the founders of the Association for Women in

Psychology. Not only did she contribute to incorporating feminism in therapy, Childs

was also a founding member of the University of Chicago’s Gay Liberation and the first

African American woman to earn her doctorate degree in Human Development (Chicago

LGBT Hall of Fame, 2020).

5. Martha Bernal – Martha is the first woman of Mexican decent to earn a doctoral degree

in Psychology (Maryville University, 2022). She is the lead researcher on the training of

minority Psychologists. She lead studies on the discrepancy of the number minority

students and the number of minority-related courses in Psychology in the US. Martha
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promoted the visibility and training of ethnic minority in the field of Psychology

(Vasquez, 2002).

6. Bluma Zeigarnik – Bluma was a Lithuanian-Soviet psychologist and psychiatrist. She

established her name in the 1920s where she postulated that humans have the

tendency to remember information related to unfinished tasks, and tend to erase them

once its complete. This theory has been used to demonstrate general presence of

Gestalt phenomena- present in cognition Effect (Koffka, 1935). Today, it is widely known

as the Zeigarnik.

7. Eleanor Maccoby – She was Developmental Psychologist, widely known for her

contributions in gender studies. Maccoby is the author of the book the Development of

Sex Differences (1966) and is listed as one of the top 100 eminent Psychologists of the

20th Century (Seelye, 2018).

8. Jennifer Lynn Eberhardt – She is an American social psychologist and a MacArthur

Fellowship “genius” grant recipient for her study on how subliminal images trigger racial

stereotypes and affect what people see. Eberhardt is currently a professor at Stanford

University’s Department of Psychology. Her work on the ways people code and

categorize others according to race has helped raise awareness about stereotypes in

policing and schools (Chug, 2019).

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9. Tsuruko Haraguchi – Haraguchi was a psychologist and first Japanese woman to receive

a doctoral degree in Philosophy. She pioneered the study on Mental Fatigue with

Edward Thorndike’s supervision. Her research pivoted studies on influence of mental

work on physiological processes and on the changes in mental efficiency (Jenkins, 2013).

10. Maria Root – Is a Filipino-American Psychologist and the former president of the

Washington State Psychological Association. Root brought prominence to the unique

needs of racially mixed people by authoring the Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People.

She applies that idea in her work as a clinical psychologist who treats adults and

adolescents. She also works as a consultant to law enforcement departments, helping

them increase their awareness of cultural issues, racism, and ethnocentrism (American

Psychological Association, 2006).

Women have pivoted change in the field of Psychology in so many ways. Their study has

since focused on concerns related to gender equality, racism, and family-related issues. They

proved that women play a prominent role in establishing the modern-day Psychology we all

know today.
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References

Maryville University (2022). Influential Women in Psychology. History of Women in Psychology:

Notable Figures in the Field.

https://online.maryville.edu/online-bachelors-degrees/psychology/resources/women-in-

psychology/

Cherry, K. (2020). Elanor Maccoby Biography.

Very Well Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/eleanor-maccoby-biography-2796020

Jhangiani, R. (2017). Introduction to Psychology I.

Pressbooks BC Campus. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/kpupsyc1100/

Anand, K. (2022). What is Contemporary Psychology?

Contemporary Psychology. https://www.contemporarypsychology.com.au/what-is-

contemporary-psychology/

Benjamin, L., Henry, K., & Mcmahon, L. (2005). Inez Beverly Prosser and the education of

African Americans. Wiley Online Library.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jhbs.20058

The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (2020). INDIVIDUAL | Inducted 1993 [Posthumous].

E. Kitch Childs. https://chicagolgbthalloffame.org/childs-e-kitch/

Vasquez, M., T., & Lopez, S. (2022). Martha E. Bernal (1931-2001).

American Psychologist, 56(11), 922

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Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt Psychology.

Seelye, K. (2018). Eleanor Maccoby, Pathbreaker on How Boys and Girls Differ, Dies at

101.The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/obituaries/eleanor-maccoby-

dead.html

Chug, D. (2019). Book Recommendation: Biased by MacArthur Genius Grant Winner Jennifer

Eberhardt. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dollychugh/2019/03/25/book-

recommendation-biased-by-macarthur-genius-grant-winner-jennifer-eberhardt/?

sh=136a73911a9b

Jenkins, A. (2013). Profile of Tsuruko Haraguchi.

Psychology’s Feminist Voices Digital Archive.

https://feministvoices.com/profiles/tsuruko-haraguchi

American Psychological Association (2006). Maria P.P. Root, PHD.

https://www.apa.org/monitor/feb06/root