A Brief History of Women in Psychology

By Nicole Houck

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, let’s take a quick look at the history of women in psychology. Although many household names in the field of psychology (such as Sigmund Freud and Ivan Pavlov) are men, women have been making meaningful contributions to the field since its early days. When psychology began to take root in society and culture around the late 19th century, women became involved. Mary Whiton Calkins was the first woman to ever finish a PhD program in psychology. However, because of her gender, Harvard refused to grant her a degree. She was not swayed and went on to become highly influential in the field, publishing multiple books and papers. In 1905, she became the first female president of the American Psychological Association. You can read more about her life and contributions here.

In 1894, Margaret Floy Washburn became the first woman to actually receive a doctoral degree in psychology, despite Mary Whiton Calkins completing the program earlier. She spent decades as a professor, teaching the future generation of women in psychology. She was so committed to her work that she never married, as it was not culturally accepted at the time for married women to work in education. She published the first book on experimenting with animal cognition, which was a largely utilized text in the field in the years after.

A well-known name in psychology is Sigmund Freud, famous for ideas like psychoanalysis and the Oedipus complex. His daughter, however, also made very important contributions to psychological understanding herself. Anna Freud was a teacher and held important positions in both the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute and the International Psychoanalytical Association. She is well-known for her focus on childhood psychoanalysis, but perhaps her most influential contribution was her expansion on defense mechanisms. Those terms that many of us still use in regular conversation (such as being “in denial” about something) stem from the work of Anna Freud and her father.

The first Black woman to receive a degree from Columbia University, Mamie Phipps Clark, was influential to both psychology as well as the world of racial justice. Her most impactful psychological work was her “Doll Test” experiment, which explored the impact of racism on Black children. Additionally, she did a lot of work to support desegregation in schools, and her work was so important that her writings were utilized in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. You can read more about her life and work here.

Much widely understood and accepted information in psychology is due, at least in part, to women, even when their names are not mentioned. They defied the odds, working hard to climb the obstacle of gender-based discrimination, and deserve to have their names remembered for their commitment and lasting contributions to the field. Due to their efforts, women today have a strong place in psychology and other sciences and can continue bringing new perspectives and making ground-breaking discoveries.