Mary Gergen
Encyclopedia
Mary Gergen is an American social psychologist specializing in feminist studies womens' studies and social constructionism
. Her contributions to the field of feminist studies, organization development Organization development
, and social process are reflected in numerous books, journal articles, and presentations (see publications below).She grew up on the plains of southwestern Minnesota
, and later moved with her family to St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. She obtained her B.S. in English and Education with a minor in speech and theatre aat the University of Minnesota
, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She was a member of Delta Gamma sorority. She later obtained her M.S. in Educational Psychology
with a specialization in counseling at the University of Minnesota. Moving to Boston
with her first husband, Michael Gebhart, and their two children, Lisa and Michael, she worked at Harvard University
as a research assistant in the Social Relations Department, and later at the Harvard Business School
in marketing. In 1969 she married Kenneth J. Gergen
and moved to Rose Valley, Pennsylvania
. In 1980, Mary Gergen earned a Ph.D. in Psychology at Temple University
, with a specialization in Social Psychology
. She also worked for four years as a psychological consultant for AT&T
on their longitudinal study of managers' lives.
Mary Gergen began her teaching career at Penn State, Brandywine in 1984 as an assistant professor in Psychology and Women's studies
. In 1988-89, Gergen was a fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
. She won the George W. Atherton
teaching award, a university wide honor, in 1966, and became a full professor. Gergen was given the title of Emerita
upon retiring from the college in 2006.
She obtained her B.S.
in English and Education with a minor in speech
and theatre
at the University of Minnesota, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and as homecoming queen. She was a member of Delta Gamma
sorority. She later obtained her M.S.
in Educational Psychology with a specialization in counseling at the University of Minnesota. Mary Gergen earned a Ph.D. at Temple University in Social Psychology.
Since the 1970s, she has been a member of the American Psychological Association
, and a founding member and fellow of Div. 35, The Society for the Psychology of Women. In the early 1990s, she was one of the seven founders of The Taos Institute
, a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of social constructionist ideas within diverse practice areas, including therapy, organizational consulting, and education. She is a co-creator of the positive aging newsletter healthandage.com, an electronically distributed news source designed to reconstruct the negative stereotype of aging, and to provide an alternative that is more promising in potential. She also edits the Tempo Book series. Mary Gergen travels internationally to give lectures and workshops and serves on examination committees and as an external examiner for Ph.D. theses from many countries, in addition to supervising several doctoral dissertations and teaching in a theoretical psychology program at Massey University
, NZ.
, and social constructionist ideas. Her attempt, at the outset, was to develop an alternative in studies of gender to both the hegemonic empiricist mode and the feminist standpoint orientation. This alternative grew from her engagement with social constructionist theory. Her first major effort to address this shift “Towards a feminist methodology” appeared in her edited book, Feminist Thought and the Structure of Knowledge in 1988. Later, her reader, Toward a New Psychology of Gender (1997), edited with Sara N. Davis, attempted to exemplify the new potentials for the field. Her work on gender issues is primarily qualitative
, with a special emphasis on narrative methods. A major focus of this work has been on gendered narratives, and their implications for women's careers. Her interest in narrative has recently led her to a concern with narratives of nature, and the human-environmental connection.
She has also been innovating in developing a field of performative psychology, in which dramatic presentations are featured as a way of both carrying out research and communicating with peers and public. A pioneer of this approach in psychology, her first solo performance, “From Mod-Masculinity to Post-Mod Macho: A Feminist Re-play” was presented at a symposium on ‘Postmodernity and Psychology” in Aarhus, Denmark
, June, 1989. In her writing she also attempts to expand beyond conventional forms in order to bring forth multiple perspectives and to challenge existing forms of order. Examples of this approach can be found in what may be her most important work, Reconstructing Psychology: Narrative, Gender and Performance (2001).
Other publications
Social constructionism
Social constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...
. Her contributions to the field of feminist studies, organization development Organization development
Organization development
Organization development is a new term which means a conceptual, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness and viability...
, and social process are reflected in numerous books, journal articles, and presentations (see publications below).She grew up on the plains of southwestern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, and later moved with her family to St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. She obtained her B.S. in English and Education with a minor in speech and theatre aat the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She was a member of Delta Gamma sorority. She later obtained her M.S. in Educational Psychology
Educational psychology
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Educational psychology is concerned with how students learn and develop, often focusing...
with a specialization in counseling at the University of Minnesota. Moving to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
with her first husband, Michael Gebhart, and their two children, Lisa and Michael, she worked at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
as a research assistant in the Social Relations Department, and later at the Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
in marketing. In 1969 she married Kenneth J. Gergen
Kenneth J. Gergen
Kenneth J. Gergen is an American psychologist and professor at Swarthmore College. He obtained his B.A. at Yale University in 1957 and his Ph.D. at Duke University in 1962.-Biography:...
and moved to Rose Valley, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. In 1980, Mary Gergen earned a Ph.D. in Psychology at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, with a specialization in Social Psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
. She also worked for four years as a psychological consultant for AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
on their longitudinal study of managers' lives.
Mary Gergen began her teaching career at Penn State, Brandywine in 1984 as an assistant professor in Psychology and Women's studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
. In 1988-89, Gergen was a fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, is an independent research institute in the field of the humanities and social and behavioural sciences founded in 1970...
. She won the George W. Atherton
George W. Atherton
George Washington Atherton was president of the Pennsylvania State University from 1882 until his death in 1906. He earned a degree from Yale in 1863 and taught at universities such as the University of Illinois and Rutgers before accepting the position of president at Penn State...
teaching award, a university wide honor, in 1966, and became a full professor. Gergen was given the title of Emerita
Emerita
Emerita may refer to:*Emerita , a genus of crustacean*Emerita Augusta, an ancient city of Spain* Saint Emerita, 3rd century martyr. See Digna and Emerita...
upon retiring from the college in 2006.
She obtained her B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in English and Education with a minor in speech
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
at the University of Minnesota, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and as homecoming queen. She was a member of Delta Gamma
Delta Gamma
Delta Gamma is one of the oldest and largest women's fraternities in the United States and Canada, with its Executive Offices based in Columbus, Ohio.-History:...
sorority. She later obtained her M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in Educational Psychology with a specialization in counseling at the University of Minnesota. Mary Gergen earned a Ph.D. at Temple University in Social Psychology.
Since the 1970s, she has been a member of the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
, and a founding member and fellow of Div. 35, The Society for the Psychology of Women. In the early 1990s, she was one of the seven founders of The Taos Institute
Taos Institute
The Taos Institute is a non-profit educational organization, concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value...
, a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of social constructionist ideas within diverse practice areas, including therapy, organizational consulting, and education. She is a co-creator of the positive aging newsletter healthandage.com, an electronically distributed news source designed to reconstruct the negative stereotype of aging, and to provide an alternative that is more promising in potential. She also edits the Tempo Book series. Mary Gergen travels internationally to give lectures and workshops and serves on examination committees and as an external examiner for Ph.D. theses from many countries, in addition to supervising several doctoral dissertations and teaching in a theoretical psychology program at Massey University
Massey University
Massey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students, 20,000 of whom are extramural students.The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...
, NZ.
Contributions
Gergen’s major contributions lie at the intersection of feminist theoryFeminist theory
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical discourse, it aims to understand the nature of gender inequality...
, and social constructionist ideas. Her attempt, at the outset, was to develop an alternative in studies of gender to both the hegemonic empiricist mode and the feminist standpoint orientation. This alternative grew from her engagement with social constructionist theory. Her first major effort to address this shift “Towards a feminist methodology” appeared in her edited book, Feminist Thought and the Structure of Knowledge in 1988. Later, her reader, Toward a New Psychology of Gender (1997), edited with Sara N. Davis, attempted to exemplify the new potentials for the field. Her work on gender issues is primarily qualitative
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such...
, with a special emphasis on narrative methods. A major focus of this work has been on gendered narratives, and their implications for women's careers. Her interest in narrative has recently led her to a concern with narratives of nature, and the human-environmental connection.
She has also been innovating in developing a field of performative psychology, in which dramatic presentations are featured as a way of both carrying out research and communicating with peers and public. A pioneer of this approach in psychology, her first solo performance, “From Mod-Masculinity to Post-Mod Macho: A Feminist Re-play” was presented at a symposium on ‘Postmodernity and Psychology” in Aarhus, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, June, 1989. In her writing she also attempts to expand beyond conventional forms in order to bring forth multiple perspectives and to challenge existing forms of order. Examples of this approach can be found in what may be her most important work, Reconstructing Psychology: Narrative, Gender and Performance (2001).
Selected publications
Books- Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology. Narrative, Gender & Performance, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ( 2001).
- Social Constructionism: A Reader. London: Sage, (2003) (Edited with K. J. Gergen).
- Social Constructionism: Entering the Dialogue (2004) Chagrin Falls, OH: Taos Institute Publications (With K. J. Gergen) Translated into Italian: La Costruzione Sociale come Dialogogo by Sadi Marhaba (2005). Padova: Logos Edizioni; Translated into French: Le Constructionism Social: Un Guide Pour Dialoguer by Alain Robiolio (2006). Brussels: SATAS.
- Communication as Social Construction: Readings, Research, Reconstruction 2008). Allyn & Bacon, (With K. J. Gergen & Stuart Schrader).
- Toward a New Psychology of Gender, New York: Routledge, 1997. (with Sara N. Davis).
- Feminist Thought and the Structure of Knowledge (Ed.).(1988) New York: NYU Press.
Other publications
- Dialogue: Life and death of the organization. In D. Grant, C. Hardy, C. Oswick, N. Phillips, & L. Putnam (Eds.). Handbook of Organizational Discourse. (pp. 39–59). Thousand Oaks, CA, London: Sage. 2004, (with K.J. Gergen & Frank Barrett).
- Appreciative inquiry as dialogue: Generative and transformative. In D. Cooperrider & M. Avital (Eds.). Advances in Appreciative Inquiry. Vol. 1. (pp. 3–27). Bristol, England: Elsevier Science Ltd. (2004), (with K. J. Gergen, & Frank Barrett).
- Once upon a time: A narratologist’s tale. In C. Duarte & C. Lightfoot (Eds.). Narrative analysis: Studying the development of individuals in society. (2004). Thousand Oaks, CA, London: Sage.
- Positive aging: Reconstructing the life course. In C. Goodheart & J. Worell (Eds.) Handbook of Women and Girls. (2005) pp. 416–426. London, New York: Oxford University Press (with K. J. Gergen).
- “Toward a Performative Psychology”(translated). In H. P Mattes & Tamara Musfeld (Ed.). Psychologische Konstrucktionen. Der Diskurs des Performativen. Göttingen, (pp. 200–210). Germany: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht 2005.
- Narratives in action, Narrative Inquiry. 2006, 16, 112-128-121. (With K. J. Gergen, 2nd author)
- Social construction and research methods in the social sciences. In W. Outhwaite and S. Turner (Eds.) Handbook of Social Science Methodology. (pp. 461–478). London, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ( 2007) (With K. J. Gergen)
- Social construction and research as action. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research,, Vol. 2, 2007, pp. 350–380. (with K. J. Gergen, 2nd author);
- Collaboration without end: The case of the Positive Aging Newsletter. In D. Gerhart & H. Anderson (Eds.) Collaborative therapy: Relationships and conversations that make a difference. 2007. New York: Routledge. (With K. J. Gergen).
- Social construction and psychological inquiry. In J. Gubrium & J. Holstein (Eds.). Handbook of Social Constructionism. 2007, (pp. 171–188) Sage. (With K. J. Gergen).
- Narratives of the nature-human connection. In T. Sugiman, K. Gergen, W. Wagner, & Y. Yamada (Eds.), Meaning in Action: Constructions, narratives, and representations. 2008, (pp. 205–221). Japan: Springer.
- Qualitative methods in feminist psychology. In W. Stainton-Rogers & C. Wittig (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2008 (pp. 280–295). London, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Qualitative inquiry in gender studies. In J. Chrisler & D. McCreary (Eds.) Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology. Sage. (in press, 2009).
- Editorial: A Conversation about Performative Social Sciences. Forum for *Qualitative Research, Vol. 10 (refereed electronic journal) Berlin, Germany (with Kip Jones), May, 2008.
- Qualitative Inquiry: Tensions and transformations. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.). Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd Edition. (with K.J. Gergen). (2000) (pp. 1025–1046).
- Life stories: Pieces of a dream. In G. Rosenwald & R. Ochberg (Eds.). Storied Lives, New Haven: Yale University Press. 1992, pp. 127–144.
- Finished at forty: Women’s development within the patriarchy. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1990, 14, 451-470.
- From mod masculinity to post-mod macho: A feminist re-play. The Humanist Psychologist.1990, 18, 95-104.
- Performative psychology pieces
- "All the Gold in Fort Knox". Symposium
- Performative Psychology V. American Psychological Association, Boston, MA, Aug. 16-20, 1999.
- "Woman as Spectacle," International Conference for Constructivist Psychology, Victoria, Canada, 2002
- Kongress fur Klinische Psychologie. "Lust und Last," Berlin, Feb. 15-20, 1999.
- Arts Bank Theater on South Street, Philadelphia, PA March 1998.
- "Creating Culture: A Dialogic Demonstration," Co-presenter K.J. Gergen. Symposium: Performative Psychology III. American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, Aug. 15-19, 1997.
- "Relationalia: A Hyperlogue" Co-presentation with K.J. Gergen. Presentations at:Western Speech Communications Association Meetings, Monterey, CA Feb.15-19, 1997.
- Constructionnisme Social, Resonances et Postmodernisme. Conference organized by l’Institut d’Etudes de la Famille et des Systemes Humains. Brussels, Belgium, May, 1997.
- First International Convention on Family Therapy. University of Athens, Athens, Greece, July 3–7, 1996
- Refiguring the Human Sciences: New Practices of Inquiry. A Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry Symposium. University of Iowa, Iowa City, June 22–24, 1995.
- Understanding the Social World, Towards an integrative approach. Huddersfield University, England, July 17–19, 1995
- "Corpo-(un)reality; Embodied Specie-ous", Presentation at Performative Psychology I, Symposium at the American Psychological Association Meetings, New York City, August, 1995.
- "Skipping Stone on a pond: Feminism, postmodernism and psychology" Social Construction, Culture, and the Politics of Social Identity. The New School of Social Research, Dept. of Psychology, New York City, April, 1995.
- "Performative Psychology", Co-presentations with KJ Gergen. Discourse and the Construction of Knowledge Conference, Adelaide, Australia. Feb., 1996.
- "Dialogic processes and the creation of selves". Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, March, 1992 (with K. J. Gergen as co-symposiast, doing original performative psychology pieces on the production of selves)
- "From mod masculinity to post-mod macho: A feminist re-play." Symposium: Postmodernity and Psychology. Center for Kvalitativ Metodeudvikling, University of Arhus, Denmark, June, 1989.["Thoroughly Post-Modern Mary" http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8787892531902504910&q=mary+gergen&hl=en] (video from Forum: Qualitative Social Research)
NEWLIN