{"id":308994,"date":"2025-11-21T15:39:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/women-in-the-science-of-child-development\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T15:39:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:39:37","slug":"women-in-the-science-of-child-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=308994","title":{"rendered":"Women in the Science of Child Development"},"content":{"rendered":"


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March is Women\u2019s History Month.\u00a0 It also happens to be the month I received the book, Equity for Women in Science<\/a><\/em>, coauthored by one of my personal favorite women in science, my cousin, Dr. Cassidy Sugimoto.<\/p>\n

Inspired by some of the vignettes in the book, I thought I\u2019d close out the month by sharing some of my favorite women in science who have influenced the world of child development.<\/p>\n

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Maria Montessori (1870-1952)<\/h2>\n

You can\u2019t really start a list like this without Maria Montessori.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maria was strongly discouraged from studying medicine (and often harassed once she did) because she was a woman.\u00a0 The course of study was challenging on its own, but made more challenging by the customs and assumptions of the day.\u00a0 As just one example, it was viewed as unacceptable for Maria to be in the presence of men and a naked body, even a dead one.\u00a0 So, Maria had to do all her cadaver dissections alone and outside of normal hours.<\/p>\n

Maria merged her medical knowledge with further pursuits in the fields of psychiatry and education.\u00a0 She became intrigued by children with developmental delays. \u00a0As she opened schools for special education teachers as well as underserved children, she approached her methods with the precision of a scientist.\u00a0 She was not only able to serve many who society had cast aside, but she was able to scientifically show why and how their lives had been improved.<\/p>\n

Thanks in large part to the pioneering efforts of Maria Montessori, the early childhood field recognizes the importance of centering the child and the developmental process in making decisions about the environment and experiences of young children.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Dr. Margaret MacFarland (1905-1988)<\/h2>\n

With a doctorate in childhood development from Columbia University, Margaret taught as a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.\u00a0 She also co-founded (and then directed for nearly two decades) the Arsenal Family and Children\u2019s Center in Pittsburgh, along with famed pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock and psychologist Erik Erikson.<\/p>\n

Margaret seemed to prefer a \u201cquiet fame<\/a>\u201d. \u00a0As Fred Rogers\u2019 mentor, she is perhaps simultaneously the most influential and least well-known child development mind of our time. Beginning as a mentor in his graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh, Fred and Margaret continued to meet almost weekly for 22 years as Fred wrote songs and scripts for Mr. Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood.\u00a0 Those meetings created the solid developmental foundation for the show\u2019s content.\u00a0 Together they translated deep concepts, theories, and principles into seemingly simple songs, storylines, and practices that shaped not only television but the perception of childhood.<\/p>\n

Erik Erikson reportedly said that Margaret \u201cknew more than anyone in this world about families with young children.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong> Much of what she studied and taught has been woven into our best responsive practices today.<\/p>\n

Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983)<\/h2>\n

Mamie and her husband, Kenneth, were the first African American scholars to receive Ph.D.s in psychology from Columbia University.\u00a0 They collaborated on work that was later used in Brown v Board of Education, a landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared educational segregation \u201cinherently unequal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their \u201cDolls Test\u201d exposed the devastating impact of segregation and discrimination on the sense of self in young Black children.<\/p>\n

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I first encountered Mamie\u2019s story on a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, but learned more from Cassidy\u2019s book.\u00a0 In past generations, it wasn\u2019t uncommon for the work of female scientists to be hidden behind a male team member\u2019s face and name.\u00a0 Even, or sometimes particularly, when that team member was a spouse.\u00a0 Breaking from old patterns, both doctors were cited equally in their shared publications.\u00a0 To Kenneth\u2019s credit, he openly admitted that the Dolls Test and related work was primarily Mamie\u2019s (as it began with her research as a graduate student) and that he merely \u201cpiggy-backed\u201d onto it.\u00a0 When expert testimony was required at the landmark hearing, however, Kenneth was called to appear rather than Mamie.\u00a0 Similarly, Kenneth was able to find a teaching position at City College of New York after his doctoral graduation.\u00a0 Mamie, however, was not offered a teaching position after graduating with the same degree from the same institution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To their great credit, she and her husband chose to forge their own path, founding what is today known as the Northside Center for Child Development<\/a>.\u00a0 What began in a renovated basement in Harlem, the center provided testing and support for mental health, learning, and development to a population that was severely underserved.\u00a0 Additionally, the egregious practice of misdiagnosing young Black children was being used as a back door to continue educational discrimination.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Cassidy and her coauthor state, \u201cthis was about not only child development but also civil rights.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Marian Diamond (1926-2017)<\/h2>\n

Marian Diamond was a pioneer in neuroscience, not just because she challenged preconceived notions about women in science, but also many long-held fundamental beliefs about the brain.\u00a0 Marian and her colleagues introduced the concept that the brain is not fixed and unchangeable \u2013 predestined by genetics.\u00a0 Instead, the brain is influenced by its environment and experiences<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Marian recalled an elderly scientist rising after she presented some of her first results at a meeting, shouting: \u201cYoung lady, the brain cannot change!\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

But Marian continued to change minds and<\/em> brains.<\/p>\n

Her work (with her colleagues) introduced the concept of an \u201cenriched environment\u201d that could intentionally improve the brain.\u00a0 Some unfortunately took this finding to mean that we needed to \u201cenrich\u201d children\u2019s experiences with flashcards, drills, or overstimulation.\u00a0 In reality, the \u201cenrichment\u201d used in these experiments, looked much more like social interaction and play.<\/p>\n

A remarkable researcher (who studied Einstein\u2019s brain) and phenomenal teacher (famous for carrying an actual human brain in a fancy floral hatbox), Marian retired at age 87, three years before her passing.<\/p>\n

Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n

I love these women for their resilience, tenacity, brilliance, and ability to make science matter in decisions about young children. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope they and others continue to inspire you in the work you do for young children today.<\/p>\n

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