Waveney Bushell: A Pioneering Black Educational Psychologist

Abstract

This article provides a brief account of the life and work of Waveney Bushell (b.1928), one of Britain’s first black female psychologists. As an educational psychologist, Bushell affected the lives of many West Indian children in Croydon, some of whom were wrongfully sent to Educationally Subnormal (ESN) schools in the 1960s and 1970s. Waveney Bushell herself faced prejudice and discrimination during her 22-year career. She was, for example, never recommended for senior psychologist posts in the Croydon School Psychological Services, despite her impressive career record.