Women Psychologists in Central Office
The executive vice president and chief executive officer is
responsible for directing the APA's paid staff, which is headquartered at the
association's Central Office in Washington, DC. Central Office is charged with
implementing the policies developed by the APA's Council of Representatives. It
provides information to members, other professionals, students, and the public through
publication of books, journals, pamphlets, the monthly membership newspaper the APA
Monitor, and an increasing spectrum of bibliographic and abstracting services covering the
literature of psychology.
Central Office coordinates the APA Convention, twice yearly meetings involving the
association's boards and committees, and other meetings and conferences as requested.
The Central Office staff provide liaison and consultation to the APA's boards and
committees; to other professional and scientific organizations; and, when appropriate, to
national, state, and local governments on matters relevant to psychology. Since its
inception, CWP has been interested in increasing the proportion of women psychologists on
the APA staff (see Table 13).2 The formation of the APA
Women's Programs Office in 1977 reflected the concern of CWP, Division 35 (Psychology
of Women), and other groups that staff expertise in women's issues be available to
the governance structure.
Central Office Organizational Structure
The APA Central Office is divided into seven major units:
the Executive Office, Finance and Administration, Communications and the four
directorates: Education, Practice, Public Interest, and Science (see Figure
1). The Women's Programs Office is a part of the Public Interest Directorate.
Executive Staff
Currently, the day-to-day management of the association is
carried out by the executive staff, made up of the executive vice president and chief
executive officer, the deputy chief executive officer, the vice president for Finance and
Administration and chief financial officer, five executive directors, the general counsel,
the senior director of Governance Affairs, and the director of Public Communications. All
except the vice president for Finance and Administration and chief financial officer, the
general counsel, the senior director of Governance Affairs, and the director of Public
Communications are psychologists.
There are three women on the 11-member executive staff: the executive director of the
Education Directorate, the senior director of Governance Affairs, and the director of
Public Communications. Of the seven psychologists on the executive staff, one is female.
There is one ethnic minority (a male) on the executive staff, the executive director of
the Public Interest Directorate. There have been a total of 10 chief executive officers
since 1946, but no woman has ever served in that position. Increasing the number of women
psychologists who serve on executive staff, so that the proportion more accurately
reflects the proportion of women among the membership, seems an important goal.
Other Psychologists
In addition to the executive staff, psychologists serve in a significant number of the
program directorships, most of which have been designated historically as positions
requiring psychological expertise at the doctorate level (see Table
13). Before the July 1987 reorganization of Central Office, the majority of the
psychologists in Central Office were located in Governance Affairs.
After the reorganization, the psychologists in Governance Affairs (and Legislative and
Public Affairs) were reassigned to the Executive Office, which included Educational
Affairs (now the Education Directorate) and the three directorates: Science, Practice, and
Public Interest.
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