Karen Horney: The Status Of Women In Psychology

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Women in psychology in the earlier part of the nineteen hundreds went through so many hardships because of their sex and what might have been socially acceptable at the time. At that time, women were not considered significant figures in society and were deemed unfit to pursue their educational goals compared to that of the men. Of the many women that went through various hardships so that psychology is what it is today are persons like: Mary Whiton Calkins, Margret Floy Washburn, Karen Horney and Mary Ainsworth.
Mary Calkins was one of the women who earned her PhD at Harvard, but was denied the degree because the university did not accept women. It must have been a very difficult thing for her at that time, investing her time and effort into work that was not accredited to her. Calkins must have thought that the system was being unfair to her and if only she was a male figure then greater privileges were possible. Nevertheless, she did not allow those setbacks to distract her from her goals.
Another of those women was that of Margret Washburn, who initially was faced with the choice of being married and not pursue her dream or pursue her dream and not get married. It must have been a difficult decision for Ms.Washburn having chosen one over the other since both can serve as important contributors to society. Although, Ms. Washburn was …show more content…

Horney came on the scene at a time when women were allowed educational privileges as men. As a result, she did not endure some of the hardships like that of Calkins and Washburn. Nevertheless, she had her personal struggles which led her to become one of the greatest contributors in psychology. Finally, Mary Ainsworth who to me was more similar to Horney than that of Calkins and Washburn because she came in at a time when women could sit and study with men and in return be awarded their

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