Women in Psychology Psy 310
Women In Psychology
by
Phoenix University
PSY 310
Aril 28, 2012
1
Inez Beverly Prosser, Psychologist
Inez Beverly Posser (1895-1934) was America’s first Black female psychologist. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/prosser.aspx . Not only is this significant in itself, it is also the adversity she overcame growing up to get there. And later, in the profound research in her dissertation that caused controversy as well as groundbreaking discoveries regarding education and integration vs. segregation as it relates to psychology. Inez was born into a family with 10 other siblings where she attended “schools for colored” in Texas. Since her family was poor, it was decided early on that they could only afford to send the oldest child (a son named Leon) to college, and once graduated that he would pave the way financially to help his siblings to attend college. However, it was apparent that Inez’s desire to attend college was greater than her brothers. Leon realized this and persuaded his parents to send her to college instead. Inez attended a historically black college at Prairie View
A&M University. With a two year certificate she began to teach elementary school and then worked as a teacher at a high school. (this teaching experience, I’m sure, will prove influential in her later research topic, where she addressed segregated vs. integrated public schools). She went on to finish her Bachelors Degree at Samuel Houston college in 1926. To attend graduate school she was forced to leave Texas due to segregation. Undeterred, she completed her Master’s degree at the University of Colorado and in 1933 she received her PhD in psychology at the
University of Cincinnati. The first female African American to achieve this degree. What makes Inez a pioneer in psychology was the fact that she was the first female
by
Phoenix University
PSY 310
Aril 28, 2012
1
Inez Beverly Prosser, Psychologist
Inez Beverly Posser (1895-1934) was America’s first Black female psychologist. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/prosser.aspx . Not only is this significant in itself, it is also the adversity she overcame growing up to get there. And later, in the profound research in her dissertation that caused controversy as well as groundbreaking discoveries regarding education and integration vs. segregation as it relates to psychology. Inez was born into a family with 10 other siblings where she attended “schools for colored” in Texas. Since her family was poor, it was decided early on that they could only afford to send the oldest child (a son named Leon) to college, and once graduated that he would pave the way financially to help his siblings to attend college. However, it was apparent that Inez’s desire to attend college was greater than her brothers. Leon realized this and persuaded his parents to send her to college instead. Inez attended a historically black college at Prairie View
A&M University. With a two year certificate she began to teach elementary school and then worked as a teacher at a high school. (this teaching experience, I’m sure, will prove influential in her later research topic, where she addressed segregated vs. integrated public schools). She went on to finish her Bachelors Degree at Samuel Houston college in 1926. To attend graduate school she was forced to leave Texas due to segregation. Undeterred, she completed her Master’s degree at the University of Colorado and in 1933 she received her PhD in psychology at the
University of Cincinnati. The first female African American to achieve this degree. What makes Inez a pioneer in psychology was the fact that she was the first female
References: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/prosser.aspx author: By Ludy T. Benjamin Jr., PhD; November 2008, Vol 39, No. 10 America’s first black female psychologist. (2008, nov). american psychological association, 39(10), 1. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html Information Please® Database,. [pic]"Civil Rights Movement Timeline (14th Amendment, 1964 Act, Human Rights Law) — Infoplease.com." Infoplease. Authors:Brunner & Haney © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 25 Apr. 2012