Thelma Gorfinkle Alper (July 24, 1908 - July 30, 1988) was an American clinical psychologist, known for creating a study measure for women's achievement motivation. She was also the first Jewish woman to receive a Ph.D from Harvard, having careers at multiple institutions as she conducted studies primarily on memory of tasks, with an interest in its relation to women.
Personal life
Alper grew up in Chelsea, Massachusetts to a Jewish family that Alper described as an "achievement oriented, but not at all a college-oriented, Jewish family". She had a sister that was ten years older, named Bertha, who has been described as the most influential role model in Alper's life, yet someone who she could never dream to surpass or even match in her own achievements. Bertha was valedictorian and graduated at sixteen with the intention to attempt a career in business; she was more outgoing than her sister. It was Bertha who persuaded Alper to follow the college prep track in high school.
Alper was a professor's assistant in college, and was later promoted to the position of general assistant for Wellesley's psychology department. She also worked for the Judge Baker Guidance Center in Boston for free before getting her B.A. and M.A. later on. She married Abraham T. Alper, who was involved in law, in 1932. She was subject to much gender discrimination throughout her career, especially during her time at Harvard. She was subjected to a grueling three hour interview where she was informed of the low female acceptance and survival rate. She would not receive a position at a university that guaranteed a tenure for female faculty until 1952 at her alma mater. Despite this, she was able to make her mark and see the changing times later on as more women were accepted onto faculty positions. She would retire from her position as a faculty member at her alma mater in 1973 and from Judge Baker in 1979 but continued to run a small practice to help out adult patients until her death.
Thelma Alper died on July 30, 1988 at Sherrill House in Boston due to a stroke. She was 80 years old.
Education
As Alper's record in school was excellent, she was informed by her principal she would not have to take the College Entrance Examination, and was eligible to be admitted into Radcliffe College as a student right away. Despite this, Alper struggled with her choice of college. While Alper favored Radcliffe, her sister and father wanted Wellesley, while her mother picked out Simmons College. Although nervous at the lack of familiar social connections at Wellesley, Alper went with her sister's choice and took the College Boards in June 1925, before officially starting college in September of the same year, at the age of seventeen.
Alper did not take well to Wellesley at first and was even thinking of pulling out. She initially considered a profession as a kindergarten teacher, for which Wellesley did not possess a promising program offering a chance for growth for at the time. However, she chose to stay for the full year at her sister's request, and ended up feeling better about the choice later on as she took more German classes that piqued her interest - leading her to major in the language. Her sophomore year was when she was introduced to the topic of psychology through a required introductory course. She initially disliked the subject and found it quite dry, even when taking more advanced classes in the field. Despite this, she accepted a role as the introductory psychology professor's assistant in May 1929. This allowed her to take care of her sister's young son (since her sister had died in December 1928), and to continue her education at Wellesley for free, even as a graduate student. She chose this position over several jobs that were related to her German major, including a teaching position at Wheaton College, a translator position for a publishing firm, and a position in one of Yale's foreign departments.