Abstract
Mainstream psychological research has been characterized as androcentric in its construction
of males as the norm. Does an androcentric bias also characterize the professional
visibility of psychologists? We examined this issue for cognitive psychology,
where the gender distribution in doctoral degrees has been roughly equal for several
decades. Our investigation revealed that, across all indicators surveyed, male cognitive
psychologists are more visible than their female counterparts: they are over-represented
in professional society governance, as editors-in-chief of leading journals in
the field, as Fellows in professional societies, and as recipients of prestigious senior
level awards. Taken together, our findings indicate that a gender parity in doctoral
degrees in cognitive psychology does not translate into a parity in professional visibility.
We discuss a variety of potential reasons for the observed gender gap and suggest that,
without attention to gendered structures of status and power, as noted by Shields,
existing gender hierarchies may persist and be reproduced.