Most Psychologists Are Female

As a woman, most of my life is spent navigating environments where I am, in one way or another, “other”. That is true in aviation, but it extends well beyond the workplace. It shows up in ordinary, everyday situations — dealing with tradespeople, managing practical tasks, making decisions that require technical knowledge, or simply being taken seriously in routine interactions. These moments are rarely dramatic. They accumulate, creating a steady background of adjustment and vigilance. Alongside this sits the constant work of managing gendered expectations around competence, authority, confidence and emotional tone.

The notable exception is my work as a psychologist.

Psychology is a predominantly female profession, particularly in counselling, clinical and health psychology. In this space, the characteristics that often mark women as “other” elsewhere — emotional attunement, relational awareness, reflective communication — are not only normal, they are expected. Here, I am not unusual. I am not subtly questioned, explained to, or assumed to be less technically competent. I am treated as the default. I simply belong.

That contrast is striking.

It highlights how rarely many women experience professional environments where they do not have to adapt, soften, justify or prove themselves before they can get on with the work. It also illustrates an uncomfortable truth: discrimination does not only arise where women are under-represented. It can also emerge within female-dominated professions, shaping who is seen as authoritative, credible, or legitimate when someone does not fit the expected profile — whether that difference relates to gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, background, or life experience.

What this makes clear is that discrimination is not only about exclusion from a group. It is about who gets to be seen as the norm. Who is granted the benefit of being “just another professional”, and who is quietly required to do extra work - overcoming friction - simply to be perceived as competent.

“As International Women’s Day approaches, it’s worth reflecting on how powerful — and how unevenly distributed — the simple experience of belonging really is.”