`Women in Psycology`

WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGY

Women in Psychology

Mary Whiton Calkins

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Id 27247

Introduction

Mary Whiton Calkins is best regarded for the contributions that she made in the field of psychology . She is among the few women to enter the field of psychology in the initial era . She had witnessed many obstacles in life which she overturned by willingness to succeed , career and education . She set her as an example to all other women in her generation who struggled due to gender inequality . She was like a ray of

hope for other women to follow . Her achievements and contributions in the field of psychology raised a voice against the social taboo of gender bias and discrimination against women

She was a commendable doctoral student but still couldn 't attain access into Harvard 's seminars and its laboratories . Her passion towards the subject of psychology and her self-determination encouraged her to open the first psychology laboratory in 1891 at Wellesley College in the United States . She invented paired-associate technique in the laboratory of Wellesley College

The gender inequality taboo deprived her from the doctorate award by the Harvard . This struggle from injustice did not discourage her to contribute to the society in a broader sense . She was crowned to be the first woman president of the American Psychological Association and the American Philosophical Association

Background , Early Life Education

Mary Whiton Calkins was born in Hartford , Connecticut on March 30 , 1863 in a German family to Charlotte and Wolcott Calkins (cited in Zusne 1984 . Out of the five children , Mary Calkins was the eldest . She was very close to her mother and her family . Mary went to the local elementary school where she learnt German in private sessions . In 1880 at the age of seventeen she shifted to Newton , Massachusetts when her family decided to move due to her father 's job transfer . In 1881 , Mary Calkins took admission in Newton High School (cited in Furumoto , 1980 She graduated from Newton High School where she wrote a graduation essay

The Apology Plato should have written : a vindication of the character Xantippi (cited in Johnson , 1997 McHenry , 1995

She then entered Smith College in the year 1882 as a sophomore . In the Spring of 1883 , unfortunately her sister Maude died due to illness . This sad experience created a deep hollow in her inner-self throughout her life . She opted to stay back at home to impart education to her younger siblings and to support her mother who was ill . This didn 't fend her to learn continuously at home . She then learnt Greek which supplemented her study of classics . She rejoined Smith College in the year 1884 as a senior student and graduated in 1885 with in-depth study of classics and philosophy (cited in Johnson , 1997

In 1886 , the Calkins family went to Europe for sixteen months where she nurtured her knowledge of classics in the University of Leipzig (cited in McHenry , 1995

She returned to Massachusetts in 1887 and joined Wellesley College as a...