Women and Authorship in Post-Apartheid Psychology

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of women's authorship in psychology. It reflects on the contributions of women authors to psychological knowledge production over the last 10 years through a quantitative assessment of authorship in the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP). Key variables utilised include ‘race’, gender, university (i.e., historically black universities versus historically white universities), sole versus collective authorship, and the order of authors in multiple authored articles. The article highlights the historical silencing of women, particularly black women, in the broader realm of knowledge production, both internationally and in local context. Some of the debates arguing for the value of women's voice in research and publishing are highlighted before the findings of the small descriptive survey are reported. Findings are both predictable and disappointing. While women as a group appear to be publishing relatively well in relation to men as a group, and the overall trend shows a closing of the gap over the last ten years, the intersection of ‘race’ and gender foregrounds the continued marginalisation of black women as authors, as well as the relative stasis of this situation over the last ten years. Furthermore, when taking the numbers of registered psychologists in South Africa into account, women as a group are in the majority, yet are represented in inverse proportion to their numbers in the profession when it comes to publishing. Women also appear to be publishing more in collectives, while men are moving significantly more towards single authorship, reflecting gender stereotypes with respect to co-operative versus individualist modes. Differences between histirically black universities (HBUs) and historically white universities (HWUs) continue, with women publishing less in the former, which is argued to relate to continued areas of inequity and lack of institutional resources and support. The article concludes by emphasising the importance of women's role as producers of knowledge in the profession. It raises a number of material recommendations for ways to support women, especially younger and black authors, in facilitating a more equitable representation of authorship in South African psychology.