Early Women In Psychology

Early women of psychology, such as Mary Whiton Calkins, Christine Ladd-Franklin, and Margaret Washburn, made strides for women by being accepted into the APA, teaching at women’s colleges, and overcoming other hurdles that came their way. Women such as Calkins, Ladd-Franklin, and Washburn were the first eminent women in psychology. They began being admitted into the professional ranks in 1892 because of their papers that were published in journals, such as James Cattell’s journal Men of Science. By being admitted into the professional ranks, these women were a source of inspiration to later generations who were set on making a name for themselves in the field (Koppes, 1997). While these women were admitted into the APA, they were still limited
Each encountered institutional discrimination in pursuing their PhD. Each experienced limited employment opportunities. Each had to confront the marriage-versus-career dilemma. And each wrestled with family obligations that conflicted strongly with career advancement.
These women were faced with these challenges everyday even when they had been admitted into the APA and had proven they were capable of the things that men were. These three women set the standards for later women in psychology, although they did not completely eliminate the problem of gender equality. Mary Whiton Calkins is among one of these three women who overcame the problem of
When thinking about the history of psychology, often people such as William James or Wilhelm Wundt are the people that professors spend the majority of their time teaching about. Interesting enough, Mary Whiton Calkins also makes an appearance in the same lectures. Calkins was a student of William James and the first female president of the APA. She is also credited with being the founder of one of the earliest psychological laboratories. Although she studied under a very prestigious figure, William James, in the science of psychology and had completed all of the requirements, Calkins was not granted her doctoral degree (Furumoto & Scarborough, 1986). This was only a minor setback in Calkins’ career. She made a name for herself by pursuing an area of the science that no one had gone in depth with before her. This concept was self-psychology. Calkins was very supportive of self-psychology, but understood that others did not agree with her views. She knew that her feelings about the subject were extremely different compared to her colleagues because while she believed the self was very important, others simply ignored the idea of the self (Wentworth, 1999). She faced criticisms of her work that were harsh and faced a ton of adversity by her decision to continue on and pursue self-psychology. She