Association for Women in Psychology

The Association for Women in Psychology (AWP) is a nonprofit scientific, educational, and professional organization focused on feminist psychology and the study of women and gender in psychological theory, research, education, and practice. It was established in 1969 during the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), at a time when psychology lacked a national organization or APA division specifically addressing the experiences and status of women. Its formation reflected dissatisfaction with sexism in psychological institutions, research traditions, diagnostic practices, and professional life. AWP's founding activity combined professional organizing with direct institutional advocacy. In 1969, members developed a set of demands concerning the APA's responsibilities toward women. Phyllis Chesler and Dorothy Riddle presented those demands at the APA convention, while Chesler called attention to the historical harms that psychology had inflicted on women who were labeled mentally ill or traumatized. AWP members also protested outside an APA Board of Directors meeting, using public demonstration to challenge gender bias within the discipline. These actions contributed to wider institutional change: the APA later created Division 35, the Society for the Psychology of Women, in 1973. AWP and Division 35 subsequently advocated together for a Women's Program Office at APA headquarters. AWP remains independent of the APA and operates separately from Division 35, even though the organizations share overlapping interests and have collaborated on selected activities. Since 1976, AWP has held nongovernmental organization status with the United Nations, giving it an additional platform for engagement with international discussions involving women, gender, health, and human rights. The association's membership is broadly inclusive of people interested in the psychology of women and feminist approaches to psychological knowledge. The organization supports its mission through conferences, professional and educational programming, awards, collaborative projects, and information-sharing networks. It sponsors regional and national gatherings devoted to feminist psychology and recognizes contributions to the psychology of women through awards. AWP also works with other organizations on feminist psychological theory, empirical research, pedagogy, teaching, and mental-health issues. Areas of concern identified in public descriptions of its work include reproductive rights and potential gender bias in psychiatric diagnosis, including questions surrounding the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). AWP also co-sponsors the Psychology of Women Resource List, commonly known as POWR-L, and maintains a collaborative presence at the APA convention through a suite operated with Division 35. These activities help connect scholars, educators, clinicians, students, and activists. AWP is therefore best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as an independent professional association whose identity is built around feminist scholarship, collective advocacy, education, and institutional reform in psychology.

The Association for Women in Psychology emerged from the feminist movement within psychology during the late 1960s. It was founded in 1969 at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association by activists and psychologists including Phyllis Chesler, Dorothy Riddle, and E. Kitch Childs. At that time, the APA had no national division devoted to the psychology of women, and the wider discipline frequently treated women's experiences through male-centered assumptions about normality, mental illness, research subjects, professional authority, and social roles. The new organization quickly combined scholarship with institutional protest. In 1969, an AWP group prepared a series of demands concerning the APA's obligations to women. Chesler and Riddle presented those demands at the APA's annual meeting. Chesler's intervention also argued that psychology had caused serious harm to women who were characterized as mentally ill or traumatized, and called for substantial institutional accountability and reparative action. AWP members further picketed an APA Board of Directors meeting to draw public attention to sexism in the profession and to press the association to respond. This activism formed part of a broader effort to make women visible as subjects of psychological research and as participants in the governance of psychology. In response to the changing environment and pressure from feminist psychologists, the APA established Division 35, the Society for the Psychology of Women, in 1973. AWP remained an independent organization rather than becoming an APA division. Nevertheless, AWP and Division 35 worked together on some institutional goals, including advocacy for a Women's Program Office at APA's national headquarters. AWP's independence has remained central to its identity. It operates outside the APA's organizational structure while maintaining relationships with psychologists, educators, researchers, clinicians, students, and activists across the field. In 1976, it obtained nongovernmental organization status within the United Nations, providing an international institutional affiliation for work related to women and psychology. Over time, AWP developed a broad professional and educational role. It sponsors regional and national conferences on feminist psychology, supports the exchange of research and teaching practices, and presents awards recognizing important contributions to the psychology of women. Its work extends beyond academic theory to pedagogy, mental-health practice, professional ethics, and public advocacy. The association has identified reproductive rights and possible gender bias in psychiatric classification, including issues associated with DSM-5, among its concerns. AWP also supports collegial infrastructure. It co-sponsors POWR-L, the Psychology of Women Resource List, and has collaborated with Division 35 on a suite at the APA convention. These activities provide forums for announcements, resource sharing, informal meetings, and professional networking. The organization remains an inclusive association for people interested in the psychology of women and feminist approaches to psychology. Its historical significance rests on linking feminist research and theory with direct challenges to institutional sexism, while its continuing role is that of an independent professional community supporting education, activism, and reform.

• 1976

  AWP obtains United Nations NGO status

  [1]Association for Women in Psychologyen.wikipedia.org

  The association gains nongovernmental organization status within the United Nations.

• 1973

  APA creates Division 35

  [1]Association for Women in Psychologyen.wikipedia.org

  The APA establishes a division devoted to the Psychology of Women, following advocacy by AWP members and other feminist psychologists.

• 1969

  AWP is founded at the APA convention

  [1]Association for Women in Psychologyen.wikipedia.org

  Phyllis Chesler, Dorothy Riddle, E. Kitch Childs, and other participants establish the Association for Women in Psychology to address the lack of a national organization focused on women and psychology.

• 1969

  Founding activists present demands to the APA

  [1]Association for Women in Psychologyen.wikipedia.org

  AWP members present demands concerning the APA's obligations to women, and members protest an APA Board of Directors meeting over sexism in psychology.

An independent feminist psychology association combining professional education, scholarly exchange, advocacy, networking, and activism. AWP is positioned as an inclusive alternative and complement to mainstream psychological institutions, with particular attention to gender equity, reproductive rights, diagnostic bias, and the social consequences of psychological theory and practice.

• Professional education and events

  Feminist psychology conferences

  AWP sponsors regional and national conferences that provide venues for presenting research, discussing feminist psychological theory, sharing teaching and clinical practices, and building relationships among scholars, practitioners, students, and activists. The conferences reflect the association's combined emphasis on academic inquiry and social change.

• Professional recognition

  Awards recognizing contributions to the psychology of women

  The association offers awards intended to recognize significant contributions to the psychology of women. Public reference material identifies the awards as part of AWP's continuing professional role, although the available material does not specify the full award catalog or individual recipients.

• Information and networking service

  Psychology of Women Resource List (POWR-L)

  POWR-L is a resource-sharing and communication list co-sponsored by AWP. It supports the circulation of information relevant to psychology of women, feminist scholarship, professional opportunities, and collegial exchange.

• 1973Advocacy for an APA Women's Program Office

  United States psychology profession

  AWP and APA Division 35 jointly advocated for a Women's Program Office at APA national headquarters as part of a broader effort to institutionalize attention to women and gender.

  Outcome. The two organizations successfully advocated for the office, according to the available historical account.

  Source
• 1969APA accountability and anti-sexism demands

  United States psychology profession

  AWP members presented a set of demands to the APA concerning its responsibilities toward women and challenged sexism within psychological institutions. The effort included public protest at an APA Board of Directors meeting.

  Outcome. The advocacy contributed to institutional attention to women in psychology and preceded the APA's creation of Division 35 in 1973.

  Source

• 1973

  Maintain independence while collaborating with APA organizationsStrategy

  Background

  The establishment of APA Division 35 created a formal APA home for the psychology of women, but AWP retained its separate organizational identity.

  Action taken

  AWP continued operating independently while collaborating with Division 35 on selected initiatives, including advocacy for a Women's Program Office and professional networking at the APA convention.

  Aftermath

  AWP remained an independent association with a broader activist and feminist identity outside the APA structure.

  Source

• 1969

  Adopt direct institutional advocacy alongside feminist scholarshipStrategy

  Background

  AWP was formed in a professional environment that lacked a national organization or APA division focused on women and that was criticized for sexist assumptions and practices.

  Action taken

  The association combined research and education with formal demands, public protest, and advocacy directed at the APA.

  Aftermath

  The organizing helped place the psychology of women on the APA's institutional agenda and was followed by the creation of Division 35 in 1973.

  Source

1. 1Association for Women in Psychologyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Association for Women in Psychology official websiteawpsych.org