Background on Women’s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind - Female

Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger and Tarule’s (1986) theory on women’s cognitive development stemmed mostly from Perry’s (1970) and Gilligan’s (1982) previous work. Perry’s research (1970) focused on areas of cognitive development and whereas Gilligan (1982) researched women’s moral and personal development. The outcome of the new research resulted in Women’s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind (Belenky et al., 1986, (Love, & Guthrie, 1999). Tarule (1997) later concluded that the results of the study were related to gender but not gender specific. Despite its criticism, the study did contribute to the study of cognitive development theories because it examined social classes, women, and differences significant in society (Love, & Guthrie, 1999).