Audrey M. Shuey

Who was Audrey M. Shuey?

Audrey M. Shuey was the Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. Shuey took her B.A. at the University of Illinois, her M.A. at Wellesley, and her Ph.D. at Columbia where she was a student of Henry Garrett.

She published the book The Testing of Negro Intelligence surveying and summarizing the results of 40 years of intelligence tests involving whites and blacks. It argued that the 15-point Black-White average IQ difference remained constant from the 1910s to the 1960s, across all regions of the U.S., as well as in Canada and Jamaica. At the time of publication it was heavily criticized by scientists who contended that she selectively represented and compared studies in a way that maximized the appearance of a White advantage, and relied on outdated studies. The publication and distribution of her book was funded by the Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund, in a bid to counter the desegregation of the American school system following Brown vs. Board of Education.