Webinar: Toward Gender Equality in Science: Perspectives from Psychology

In this webinar, we present examples from psychology in relation to gender equality.  Our purpose is to provide examples of data from psychological science that address issues of global significance and data to improve our social world. The webinar will be chaired and introduced by Professor Pam Maras who will set out the context of gender in relation to the discipline  of psychology, in particular contextualizing the global context. Two main speakers will then provide examples from two different perspectives. Each talking for about 45 minutes. First, Professor Vindhya Undurti from India, will provide a presentation on Gender equality in psychology taking an intersectional feminist perspective and focusing on South Asia. Professor Isabelle Régner will then discuss the influence of gender stereotypes on cognitive performances and hiring decisions including in academia. The webinar will end with an opportunity to take questions.  Short biographical information and abstracts is provided below.  The webinar will be recorded and made available for viewing on the SCGES, IUPsyS and other websites after it has taken place.

The event will be held online on June 13th, 2022 at

1:30-3:30 PM UTC

3:30–5:30 PM CEST

7-9 PM IST.

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SPEAKERS’ BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Pam Maras, is Emeritus Professor of Social and  Educational Psychology at the University of Greenwich, London. Her research is predominantly on children and young people’s behavior, aspirations, identity, motivation, and future aspirations and the international relevance and appropriateness of measures mainly developed in the northern hemisphere to other countries and regions. Dr Maras is the first female President of IUPsyS in its 133 years.  She is committed to ensuring that psychology’s progressive role in understanding the complexities and tensions of an increasingly globalising but unequal world is promoted and utilized at the highest levels. IUPsyS is the global body for psychology with representation on global science and policy making bodies, including: The International Science Council, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Vindhya Undurti, Ph.D. is a former Professor of Psychology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, India. Her research concerns are located in the interface of psychology and feminism, focusing on gender-based violence; women’s mental health; trafficking of women; and the psychology of women’s political activism. Her publications include the co-edited Handbook of International Perspectives on Feminisms: Psychology, Women, Culture and Rights which won the 2012 Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology (USA). She has been a recipient of the Fulbright Visiting Lecturer Fellowship, USA; South Asian Visiting Scholarship, Oxford University; and Visiting Faculty in University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary. She was past President of the National Academy of Psychology (India).

Isabelle Régner is full Professor of social psychology at the Cognitive Psychology Lab (UMR CNRS 7290), Aix-Marseille University. She was the Director of the Centre of Social Sciences at the Science Faculty from 2014 to 2020, and was named Vice-President for gender equality in 2020. Her research examines the influence of social stereotypes on cognitive performances, judgements, and decisions in various domains (math, reading, memory) and populations (children, young adults, healthy older adult and patients). She has published over 50 peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

ABSTRACTS

Pam Maras: Toward Gender Equality in Science: Perspectives from Psychology

In this brief introduction, Dr Maras will consider gender equality within the context of psychological science. Students and to a lesser extent early career scientists are predominantly female particularly in many western countries. However, the situation across the globe and at higher position in the discipline is not so clear and is often linked to the stage of development of the discipline.  She ends by introducing the two main speakers who will each provide a perspective on the question.

Vindhya Undurti: Gender Equality in Psychology: An intersectional feminist perspective from India

Psychology, as an academic discipline was introduced in India in the early 20th century as part of colonial education, with the establishment of the first university graduate programme in 1916. Given that formal education was not yet open then to women and to marginalized communities, the initial recipients of psychology education were men from the dominant social groups. Following independence in 1947, India witnessed an exponential growth in education with increase in enrollment of women students as well. Psychology too experienced a significant increase with overwhelmingly large numbers of women students. However, this increase has not translated into equal representation in indices such as leadership positions and research output/publications. This presentation focuses on two explanations: the ‘feminization’ of the discipline; and the impact of socio-cultural barriers that have a bearing on gender equality in psychology.

Isabelle Régner: The influence of gender stereotypes on cognitive performances and hiring decisions

Actions to promote gender equality in higher education have grown in recent years and led to some advances. However, gender inequalities persist in our universities. Women are still disadvantaged in terms of hiring, promotion, leadership positions, and remain under-represented in STEM fields (Sciences, Technology, Computer Science, Mathematics). Research in social cognition has shown that gender stereotypes contribute to these inequalities. In this talk, we will illustrate some research showing that gender stereotypes can impair women’s performance in STEM fields and lead scientific evaluation committees hiring or promoting less women. This research also provides important information about experimentally tested interventions that can break the gender prejudice habit.

The Webinar was recorded and can be viewed in our You Tube channel.