262 Psychology of Women and Gender
Women’s Programs Office in 1977. The office coordinates re-
sources for research and collects information and reference
material. It also gathers statistical data concerning women’s
employment in the various scientific and professional fields.
The office has compiled directories of graduate programs that
offer training in the psychology of women and gender. It has
also compiled bibliographies of research reports and pam-
phlets for the general public.
Other Activities
A number of divisions of the APA have sections or commit-
tees focused on women’s issues. One of the first ones to es-
tablish such a subgroup was the Division of Counseling
Psychology. Among divisions that have active sections are
the Society for Clinical Psychology, the Division of Psycho-
therapy, and the Division of Psychoanalysis. The groups pub-
lish newsletters, sponsor symposia and programs at the APA
conventions and other conferences, and present awards.
The Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) was
the site of a vibrant organization of women during the 1970s.
In 1972, at the behest of several feminist psychologists, the in-
coming president, Charles Speilberger, and the Executive
Committee appointed the first SEPA Commission on the Status
of Women, chaired by Ellen Kimmel. Not only did that group
report on the status of women (Kimmel, 1974), it also initiated
a number of activities that are still in place today, including a
visiting scholars program and student research awards. The
commission was so effective in enhancing the participation
and status of women that the SEPA expanded its charge to
include other underrepresented groups in addition to women,
renaming it the Committee on Equality of Opportunity.
Another important organization is the Feminist Therapy
Institute, established in 1983, which has held conferences
and workshops, sponsored publications, and led feminists in
protesting against diagnoses detrimental to women.
Finally, an innovative series of small conferences, devel-
oped and sustained by Faye Crosby, has brought psychologists
together in informal settings around topics on women, gender,
and feminism. The conference series is called Nag’s Heart, a
name that evolved from its forerunner, a conference series in
social psychology held at Nag’s Head, North Carolina.
The Section on Women and Psychology of the Canadian
Psychological Association
The turbulence of the 1970s was felt within the Canadian
Psychological Association (CPA) just as in its American
counterpart. In 1975, upon the recommendation of its presi-
dent, Mary Wright, the CPA established a Task Force on the
Status of Women in Canadian Psychology. The task force
presented almost 100 recommendations to the board of direc-
tors in 1976. Included among them was a recommendation to
establish a special-interest group on the psychology of
women. This special-interest group, now called the Section
on Women and Psychology (SWAP), is the second largest of
the CPA’s 26 sections (Pyke, 1993). SWAP holds a daylong
institute prior to the annual CPA convention for the presenta-
tion of scholarly research and discussions on the psychology
of women. SWAP also publishes a newsletter. The CPA has
formally approved several initiatives undertaken by SWAP.
These include guidelines on the elimination of sexual harass-
ment, the conduct of nonsexist research, and the provision of
sex-fair counseling and therapy.The Psychology of Women Section of the British
Psychological AssociationThe Psychology of Women Section of the British Psycholog-
ical Association (BPA) was established in 1988. The goals of
the section are to provide a forum for research, teaching, and
practice on the psychology of women and to eliminate gender
inequality in the BPA and the field of psychology (Psychol-
ogy of Women Section, 2000). The section holds conferences
and symposia annually, provides support for other events,
and works within the BPA to influence policy and promote
research on the psychology of women and gender. One pro-
ject that the section has undertaken is an investigation of the
portrayal of women in British undergraduate psychology
courses.
In sum, a number of organizations have been founded to
further the development of the field of psychology of women
and gender. Although we have not provided an exhaustive
description of their activities, all have made important contri-
butions to feminist psychology and, in turn, to changing the
field of psychology and the way its practices affect society.SUMMING UP AND LOOKING AHEADThe endeavors of feminist researchers, teachers, practition-
ers, and activists have reshaped the contours of the discipline
and the status of women in profession. In this final section,
we survey what has been accomplished and what, in our best
guess, lies ahead.Research, Scholarship, and PedagogyWhen the field of psychology of women and gender was in its
infancy, the question of sex differences loomed large. Today,