New Experiment Hopes to Increase Female Philosophy Scholars

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The following piece was originally published in  Inside Higher Ed.

Theories abound as to why women are underrepresented among philosophy scholars. Most philosophers are male, and that’s off-putting to those who would study them, some say. Others claim corners of the discipline are misogynistic. But the data as to why women make up just  21 percent of philosophy faculty – unusually  low among the humanities – are scant. And women aren't flocking the field as undergraduate majors, either, even though many take a course or two. So one university is stacking some course syllabuses with female thinkers to see whether it’s a way to retain women’s interest in philosophy. And while many within the discipline are applauding Georgia State University, others question the academic value of such a move.

Starting next year, graduate students teaching introductory-level courses in philosophy at Georgia State, who teach about half of all such sections offered, will use syllabuses that include at least 20 percent women philosophers. That's at least double the number included on most syllabuses for the course at the university. The effort is an extension of preliminary research by Eddy Nahmias, professor of philosophy, and several of his graduate students, Toni Adleberg and Morgan Thompson, into why male and female students enroll in introductory-level courses in similar numbers but women drop out of the discipline in much greater numbers.

Through a large-scale climate survey, Nahmias and his students found marked differences in experiences among 700 male and female Introduction to Philosophy students. Women generally found the course less enjoyable, and the material less interesting and relevant to their lives, than their male counterparts. They also felt they had less in common with philosophy majors or instructors and felt less able and likely to succeed in philosophy. They reported being less likely to enroll in more advanced philosophy courses or major in the discipline, and were likelier to disagree that the syllabus included a fair proportion of women authors. (Women were no more likely to report that class conversations were aggressive, or to anticipate lower grades, however.)

Nahmias said he’ll run the survey again this fall, this time with more questions, and include a survey for instructors. Whether the female students enrolled in the courses with more readings by women report better experiences, and plan to enroll in more philosophy courses, could provide some insight into why most women abandon philosophy after introductory courses.

However, he said, “we are not sure if this experiment will succeed, we are not sure if it has any drawbacks, and, most importantly, we are not suggesting it is the only, or even the best, approach to mitigating the problem that motivated us” – that only about one-third of philosophy majors nationwide, and at Georgia State, are women.

The initiative is gaining praise from many in philosophy.

Amy Ferrer, executive director of the American Philosophical Association, said she and her organization are “very supportive of efforts like this one aiming to increase the representation of women in philosophy.” The documented drop in enrollment among women beyond introductory courses makes for “an unfortunate gender disparity in the philosophy major, philosophy graduate programs and the professoriate,” she said, adding that she was looking forward to seeing how much of an impact early undergraduate exposure to more female philosophers would have on the phenomenon.

Jennifer Saul, professor of philosophy at the University of Sheffield in Britain, who moderates the blog  “What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?” was equally enthusiastic.

Based on readers’ reports, Saul said “conscious sexism and sexual harassment seem to be alive and well in philosophy. Many women, with good reason, find philosophy to be an extremely hostile environment and it’s not surprising they leave it.”