```In 1998, the American psychologist association surveyed its members and found that the
top 100 psychologists of the 20th century only 6 were women. To what extent do you agree
that women are invisible. [25]
Sexism is the discrimination against an individual solely based upon their gender or sexual
orientation. It is commonly linked to males’ prejudice against women in psychology. This can
involve women being deemed invisible in psychology in regard to their work and findings,
and as such not being granted the same opportunities as males or getting the same level of
recognition. Sexism and stereotypes are deeply rooted into the history of psychology with
influential individuals such as Aristotle referring to women ‘as being a deformity’. Even
though there have been progresses with the use of major organisations such as the APA and
the BPS welcoming women into this field, but can we truly say that sexism has been truly
eradicated from psychology nowadays?
One form of sexism in psychology from males to women is that women are not credited in
their work as equally as males are. Women are sometimes deemed to be invisible in
psychology as psychology is still perceived to be male dominated. Gray (1977) conducted a
content analysis on ten psychology textbooks and the results showed that women are still
invisible in psychology as all of the ten textbooks implied that researchers were male.
However, these may have been due to cultural differences as all the books included were
from an individualistic culture. Also, researchers use their surname when crediting their
work instead of their first name. This means that we cannot identify whether the researcher
is male or female, so many may assume the researcher is male. This can mean that women’s
work is uncredited as people believe that a man is responsible for the study, and so women
would not be included in the American Psychologist Association as they would not get credit
for their work, as people would assume them to be a man, and so they would not be
rewarded for their psychological achievements. Also, some may argue that the reason why
only six women were found in the top 100 psychologists of the 20 th century could be
because people argue that psychology is a male dominated arena, and so women are less
welcomed into psychology. Although in the 21st century, this has changed as more women
are welcome into the subject and are dominating the subject, 64.8% of psychologists are
women and 35.2% of psychologists are men in 2022. However, Scarborough and Furrmoto
(1987) stated the history of psychology is the history of male psychology. Thus, arguing that
psychology has a masculinist bias that publicises the achievements of men. Women also
tend not to be appreciated fully in psychology as they have hidden their achievements
behind the names of their husbands or by becoming assistants to male psychologists. For
example, Loftus and Palmer (1975) is a clear example of how women were forced to use
their husbands as a way to gain recognition for their work through the use of their name in
the research. Although, the statement that women are invisible does not come without its
faults. People have recently argued that women now dominate psychology. BPS (2020)
found that eighty per cent of psychology undergraduate students are female and at Russell
Group institutions, the proportion is even higher, standing at around 85 per cent. The result
is that psychology professions are pervasively female dominated: 80 per cent of Clinical
Psychologists and Educational Psychologists are women. So, the argument that women are
invisible in psychology is flawed as women make up a huge proportion of undergraduates
and psychology professions. Therefore, women are taught and educated about psychology,
and also offered careers in relation to psychology.
top 100 psychologists of the 20th century only 6 were women. To what extent do you agree
that women are invisible. [25]
Sexism is the discrimination against an individual solely based upon their gender or sexual
orientation. It is commonly linked to males’ prejudice against women in psychology. This can
involve women being deemed invisible in psychology in regard to their work and findings,
and as such not being granted the same opportunities as males or getting the same level of
recognition. Sexism and stereotypes are deeply rooted into the history of psychology with
influential individuals such as Aristotle referring to women ‘as being a deformity’. Even
though there have been progresses with the use of major organisations such as the APA and
the BPS welcoming women into this field, but can we truly say that sexism has been truly
eradicated from psychology nowadays?
One form of sexism in psychology from males to women is that women are not credited in
their work as equally as males are. Women are sometimes deemed to be invisible in
psychology as psychology is still perceived to be male dominated. Gray (1977) conducted a
content analysis on ten psychology textbooks and the results showed that women are still
invisible in psychology as all of the ten textbooks implied that researchers were male.
However, these may have been due to cultural differences as all the books included were
from an individualistic culture. Also, researchers use their surname when crediting their
work instead of their first name. This means that we cannot identify whether the researcher
is male or female, so many may assume the researcher is male. This can mean that women’s
work is uncredited as people believe that a man is responsible for the study, and so women
would not be included in the American Psychologist Association as they would not get credit
for their work, as people would assume them to be a man, and so they would not be
rewarded for their psychological achievements. Also, some may argue that the reason why
only six women were found in the top 100 psychologists of the 20 th century could be
because people argue that psychology is a male dominated arena, and so women are less
welcomed into psychology. Although in the 21st century, this has changed as more women
are welcome into the subject and are dominating the subject, 64.8% of psychologists are
women and 35.2% of psychologists are men in 2022. However, Scarborough and Furrmoto
(1987) stated the history of psychology is the history of male psychology. Thus, arguing that
psychology has a masculinist bias that publicises the achievements of men. Women also
tend not to be appreciated fully in psychology as they have hidden their achievements
behind the names of their husbands or by becoming assistants to male psychologists. For
example, Loftus and Palmer (1975) is a clear example of how women were forced to use
their husbands as a way to gain recognition for their work through the use of their name in
the research. Although, the statement that women are invisible does not come without its
faults. People have recently argued that women now dominate psychology. BPS (2020)
found that eighty per cent of psychology undergraduate students are female and at Russell
Group institutions, the proportion is even higher, standing at around 85 per cent. The result
is that psychology professions are pervasively female dominated: 80 per cent of Clinical
Psychologists and Educational Psychologists are women. So, the argument that women are
invisible in psychology is flawed as women make up a huge proportion of undergraduates
and psychology professions. Therefore, women are taught and educated about psychology,
and also offered careers in relation to psychology.
