Did you notice that most of the founders of psychology discussed earlier were white males? Key roles were played by women, African Americans, Hispanics, and others, but for many years the field of psychology was dominated by white males. Indeed, until recently the contributions of women and ethnic minorities were largely ignored when the founding of psychology was discussed.
Laurel Furomoto and Elizabeth Scarborough (1986), Leonard Krasner (1988), and Ellen Kimmel (1992) have helped change our view of the role of women in the history of psychology by reminding us of some key facts. For example, although men in psychology greatly outnumbered women during the first 75 years of the profession, Christine LaddFranklin completed the doctoral program in psychology at Johns Hopkins in 1882 and was one of 10 women in the still new science to do so before 1900. However, women participated less in the development of psychology than men because sexual discrimination actively interfered with their ability to contribute. For example, although Christine LaddFranklin completed the doctoral program at Johns Hopkins, she was never given a degree because Johns Hopkins was an all-male institution at that time and would not grant her a degree.
In the early days of psychology, it was extremely difficult for even the most qualified women to obtain admission to graduate programs, and, when they did receive training, they were rarely offered teaching positions at the male-dominated institutions that had the bestequipped laboratories.
Furthelmore, around the turn of the century a woman's decision to marry often meant the end of her career due to the then dominant stereotypes concerning a woman's role in the family. All of the early female psychologists who attained the rank of assistant professor or higher were unmarried. In describing the career of Dr. Ethel Puffer, Furomoto and Scarborough (1986) wrote, "In August 1908 she married an engineer, Benjamin Howes, at which point her career in psychology halted.
One unmarried woman who is recognized for her important contributions during the ys of psychology is Mary Whiton Calkins. When I described the history of Calkins earlier, I said that she was a student of William James at Harvard the late 1800s." She completed the requirements for the Ph.D. at Harvard. but, Christine Ladd-Franklin, was never awarded the degree. Like other all-male institutions Harvard did not confer degrees on women at that time. Are you shocked and surprised that there was ever a time that universities felt that women should not receive Ph.Ds? You_ probably are well aware of the prejudice against women that once existed- today-and are not surprised by Calkins' experience.
Similar prejudicial roadblocks slowed the entry of African Americans. Latins. and other ethnic minorities into psychology. Nevertheless, surprising numbers of dedicated individuals came the odds and became pioneers of the science of psychology. The first African American to be a professor of psychology in the United States was Gilbert Jones. studied in Germany, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1901 at the University of Jena. Inez Prosser was the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology in the United States. Prosser obtained her master's degree and taught for many years before receiving her Ph.D. in 1933 from the University of Cincinnati. Tragically, she was killed in accident shortly after receiving her degree. The landmark research by 5 Clark and Kenneth Clark (1939) on the self-concept of African American ed the scientific basis for the Brown v. Board of Educarion decision by the Court that ruled that segregated school systems could no longer be considte but equa1." The research by the Clarks showed that ]egally baITing nu.:llldren from all-white schools implied to the segregated children that they us, any segregated school system would be inherently unequal for the seg_ group. In recognition of such research. Kenneth Clark was the first African elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1971. portant roles in psychology have also been played by Hispanics from the example, more recently, George Sanchez's research discouraged the use of tests for minority schoolchildren.
Although the number of women and ethnic minorities in psychology has grown dramattically in recent years (Denmark, 1998). and all formal barriers against their entry into g been dropped, prejudice still plays a negative role in psychology. as in professional fields (Peterson, Brown, & Aronson, 1998). It is still the case that men greatly outnumber women at advanced academic ranks and in positions of authority (1998; Peterson & others, 1998) and it is still necessary to monitor the salaries of female psychologists to be sure that they receive equal pay for equal work. Furthermore, much remains to be done to provide child care and childbirth leave to facilitate the careers of women in psychology.
