Jane Ritchie (née Beaglehole; 12 February 1936 – 21 April 2023) was a New Zealand psychology academic and expert of child-raising. She was an emeritus professor at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

. She was the first woman to graduate with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in psychology from a New Zealand university.

Biography

Ritchie was born on 12 February 1936 in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

as Jane Beaglehole, the daughter of psychologist and ethnologist

Ernest Beaglehole Ernest Beaglehole (25 August 1906 – 23 October 1965) was a New Zealand psychologist and ethnologist best known for his work in establishing an anthropological baseline for numerous Pacific Island cultures. Early life and education Beaglehole ...

. The family lived in New Zealand from 1937. She received her education at Karori School and

Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. ...

. She then studied at

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1956, a Master of Arts in 1957, and a

in 1963. Her 1957 master thesis was titled ''Childhood in Rakau: A Study of the First Five Years of Life'' and the PhD, submitted in 1962, had the title ''Maori Families: an Exploratory Study in Wellington City''. While at Victoria, she met and married

James Ritchie James Ritchie may refer to: * James Ritchie (rugby union) (1907–1942), Scottish international rugby union player * James Ritchie (naturalist) (1882–1958), President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh * James Ritchie (Massachusetts politician) (1 ...

, and the two collaborated on almost all their future research, just as her parents had done.Early Childhood Folio Vol 16 No. 1 (2012) They both moved to the

, and both rose to full professor. She was a postdoctoral research fellow from 1973 to 1975, a lecturer from 1976 to 1979 and a senior lecturer from 1980 to 1984. She was promoted to associate professor in 1985, and in 1995 was appointed a professor. James Ritchie died in 2009 and Jane retired in 2010. Two younger brothers have achieved notability.

David Beaglehole David Beaglehole (8 January 1938 – 21 March 2014) was a New Zealand physicist. Early life, family and education Beaglehole was born in Wellington in 1938 into an academic family. His parents were American-born linguist Pearl Beaglehole (née ...

(1938–2014) was a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

at Victoria University. Robert Beaglehole (born 1945) is an emeritus professor in

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. Jane Ritchie died on April 21, 2023, at the age of 87.

Awards and honours

In the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, Ritchie was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to women, education and the community. In 2017, she was selected as one of the Royal Society of New Zealand's "

150 women in 150 words The "150 women in 150 words" project was undertaken by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and published during their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. The aim of the project was "celebrating women's contributions to expanding knowledge in New Z ...

Selected works

* Ritchie, Jane. Childhood in Rakau: the first five years of life. No. 10. Victoria Univ., 1957. * Ritchie, Jane, and James E. Ritchie. Child rearing patterns in New Zealand. AH & AW Reed, 1970. * Ritchie, Jane. Chance to be equal. Cape Catley, 1978 * Ritchie, Jane, and James E. Ritchie. Spare the Rod,

Allen and Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, 1981 * Ritchie, Jane, and James E. Ritchie. Violence in New Zealand.

Huia Publishers Huia Publishers is a New Zealand publishing company based in Wellington, established in 1991. Huia publishes material in Māori and English for adults and children, including graphic novels, picture books, chapter books, novels and resources fo ...

, 1993. * Ritchie, Jane, and James E. Ritchie. The next generation: Child rearing in New Zealand.

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 1997.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Jane 1936 births 2023 deaths New Zealand women academics 21st-century New Zealand psychologists New Zealand women psychologists Victoria University of Wellington alumni Academic staff of the University of Waikato New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Wellington Girls' College Beaglehole family 20th-century New Zealand psychologists