Dr. Lynn H. Collins is a member of the psychology department and teaches a course on psychology of women at La Salle University. I myself had the pleasure of taking her class and have learned so much more about why I am a feminist. This course has taught me so much so far about the efforts of women in psychology and further expand my knowledge on the triviality’s women face every day.
Dr. Collins has always gone against the grind of what was expected of her and her female colleagues. She never wanted to conform to the gender stereotypes that was placed on women even before she even knew what feminism is. Now as an adult, she works a lot in organizations that she helps run such as the Association for Women in Psychology and the Society for the Psychology of Women.
When Collins was first asked to teach the psychology for women class it was a new course and she had no other criteria to go off of. Her colleagues asked her to teach the course mostly because she was one of the only women in the department at the time (beside a woman who was about to retire shortly). She had to set her own standards and make her own criteria to deliver the course in an effective way towards students. Figuring out how to set up the course taught her a lot as well, and she still continues to learn and grow. Perhaps, she can even say the course was a blessing in disguise.
Now after about 20 years of teaching the course, she prepares her students with the knowledge to question why things are the way they are. When it comes to research in the field of psychology, there is a danger of conformation bias. For an example, researchers have determined that male brains are about 8-10% larger than female brains. They tried to use this as reason to assert male superior intelligence but this notion was later debunked. Dr. Collins expresses that conformation bias in researchers can be troubling because of the gender stereotypes that many do not question why there is a difference if any.
Dr. Collins has a new book on the way coming in July on the psychology of women globally. The book is going to be called Trans National Psychology of Women so be sure to keep on eye out for it!