Philosopher Demographics
CategoryDemographic Trends in the Philosophy Major Might Be Mostly Due to Pre-College Factors (guest post)
This guest post* looks at two questions related to demographic trends among philosophy majors. First, are women disproportionately less interested in the philosophy major at the beginning of their first year of study? And second, is the recent apparent increase in interest in philosophy reflected in first-year intention to major? (more…)
The Sexual Orientations of First-Year Philosophy Undergrads
What’s the distribution of sexual orientations among first-year undergraduates who are majoring in philosophy? Eric Schwitzgebel (Riverside), Morgan Thompson (Pittsburgh), and Eric Winsberg (South Florida) looked at data from Higher Education Research Institute’s “Freshman Survey” to find out that and other information. (more…)
Graduate Students on Diversity and Inclusivity in Philosophy (guest post by Carolyn Dicey Jennings)
The following is a guest post* by Carolyn Dicey Jennings, associate professor of philosophy and cognitive science at University of California, Merced, and creator of Academic Placement Data and Analysis (APDA). (more…)
Gender, Topics, and Publication: Clues from Political Science?
A new study in political science provides evidence for an explanation of why “women are more likely to leave the profession than men” and why “those who stay are promoted at lower rates.” (more…)
Addressing Philosophy Departments’ Lack of Diversity
The Demographics in Philosophy project will be holding a session at the upcoming Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) in Vancouver. (more…)
In Philosophy Departments, More Women Faculty Means More Women Students Earning PhDs
Among U.S. philosophy departments with graduate programs, those with a higher proportion of women faculty award more PhDs to women students.
Ways to Increase Diversity of Authors in Philosophy Journals
A recent series of articles on diversity and philosophy journals at the Blog of the American Philosophical Association (APA) culminates today with various suggestions for how editors can improve the diversity of authors they are publishing. (more…)
Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) Seeking Organizers
Minorities and Philosophy (MAP), a 104-chapter network of philosophy graduate students “that aims to examine and address issues of minority participation in academic philosophy,” is seeking to hire two international organizers. (more…)
Diversity in Philosophy Journals
The Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) will include a session on diversity in philosophy journals, with several speakers and an additional panel consisting of representatives from nearly 20 academic philosophy journals. (more…)
The Racial Diversity of Philosophy Majors (guest post by Eric Schwitzgebel)
The following is a guest post* by Eric Schwitzgebel, professor of philosophy at University of California, Riverside. It first appeared at his blog, The Splintered Mind.
What Proportion of Philosophy Majors Are Women? (guest post by Eric Schwitzgebel)
The following is a guest post* by Eric Schwitzgebel, professor of philosophy at University of California, Riverside. It first appeared at his blog, The Splintered Mind.
Why A Philosopher of Color Declined To Contribute To A Special Issue On Current Politics
The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (KIEJ) recently published a special issue, Trump and the 2016 Election. In an editorial note, KIEJ editor-in-chief Rebecca Kukla (Georgetown) discusses two things the special issue is missing—articles that present a positive view or are in some way supportive of Trump’s policies or politics, and articles by people of color–..
New Study on Gender and Program-Prestige in Tenure-Track Hiring of Philosophers
Market outcomes starting in 2014 and going back 10 years offer no evidence women are at a disadvantage in tenure-track competitions.
That’s the primary finding of a study by Sean Allen-Hermanson, associate professor of philosophy at Florida International University. The study, “Leaky Pipeline Myths: In Search of Gender Effects on the Job Market and Early Career P..
Women in Philosophy Journals: New Data
There are new findings on the presence of women in academic philosophy journals:
- Though approximately 25% of philosophy faculty in the United States are women, only 14-16% of the articles that appear in the discipline’s top journals are by women.
- Journals which do not use anonymous review seem to have a higher percentage of women authors than journals which ..
Diversity in Philosophy: The Compass Workshops (guest post by Sukaina Hirji)
The following is a guest post* by Sukaina Hirji, assistant professor of philosophy at Virginia Tech, about the Compass Workshops. The workshops “provide undergraduates from underrepresented groups a chance to meet each other, and to explore various sub-disciplines within philosophy, in a relaxed and supportive environment.” (more…)
Dominance Of The English Language In Contemporary Philosophy: A Look At Journals
“If you’re an academic aiming to reach a broad international audience, it is increasingly the case that you must publish in English. Philosophy is no exception.” So writes Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside), in a post at The Splintered Mind.
As he notes, this gives native English speakers an obvious professional advantage of being able to reach a worldwide readersh..
The Gender Gap In Philosophy (guest post by Morgan Thompson)
The following is a guest post* by Morgan Thompson (Pittsburgh) on explanations of the gender gap in philosophy. It covers some of the material discussed in her recently published “Explanations of the gender gap in philosophy” in Philosophy Compass.
Prestige Segregation by Gender in Philosophy
The distribution of genders in graduate education in the United States vary by field. Does that distribution change at all when the focus is just on the most prestigious graduate programs? A new study by Kim A. Weeden (Cornell), Sarah Thébaud (UC Santa Barbara), and Dafna Gelbgiser (Cornell), “Degrees of Difference: Gender Segregation of U.S. Doctorates by Field and..
Haslanger Issues Diversity Fund Challenge
Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women’s & Gender Studies at MIT and former President of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association (APA) has issues a challenge to fellow philosophers in a public post on Facebook. Here’s an excerpt: (more…)
Philosophy Departments and Journals Ranked by Gender Data at New Website
A new website presents data on women in philosophy in a novel manner: it orders departments by number of women faculty and journals by number of women authors. (more…)
Data on Diversity in (mostly) US Philosophy
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has released a new report on its membership demographics over the past three years. Has philosophy become more demographically diverse during this period? It’s not easy to tell from the data.
Diversity in Philosophy: Is the Problem Lack of Pre-College Exposure?
Recall these figures from “What is the State of Blacks in Philosophy?” by Tina Fernandes Botts, Liam Kofi Bright, Myisha Cherry, Guntur Mallarangeng, and Quayshawn Spencer: though blacks in the U.S. make up over 13% of the general population, they make up just 1.32 percent of the total number of people professionally affiliated (as grad students or faculty) with U.S..
Philosophical Gentrification
That the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy recently added five entries on Latin American philosophy is one indication of growing recognition of the area, writes Axel Arturo Barceló Aspeitia (National Autonomous University of Mexico) in a post at PhilPercs entitled “Against Latin American Philosophy Going Mainstream.” But, he asks, is that increased attention an un..
Penn State’s Efforts at Diversifying Philosophy
Five black women earned Ph.D.s in philosophy from Penn State this year, according to an article at The Chronicle of Higher Education (currently paywalled) that looks at the efforts the philosophy department there has been making to diversify philosophy.
The Chronicle reports that:
According to the latest federal data, of the 370 American citizens and permanent..
Demographic Data on U.S. Philosophy Faculty
Trends show a slow decrease in the extent to which U.S. full-time philosophy faculty at four-year institutions is male and white, according to data obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics by Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside) and posted at The Splintered Mind:
Gender data:
1988: philosophy*: 91% male (vs. 75% for all fields).
1993: philosophy..
Bias, Subjectivity, and Superficiality in Philosophy
The philosophy profession in the United States is overwhelmingly male and white. What explains this? In an essay in The Los Angeles Times, Myisha Cherry (UI Chicago) and Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside) offer an explanation:
One of the main causes of homogeneity in philosophy, we believe, is subjectivity and bias in the evaluation of philosophical quality.
They ..
King Award Recipient: “Neither thrilled nor honored”
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports (may be paywalled) this morning that Naomi Zack, professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon, is the recipient of an award from her university in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. The story made the Chronicle for Zack’s reaction, in which she expresses gratitude for the award but is “neither thrilled nor honored” to r..
Women’s Participation At APAs Has Doubled over 40 Years
Over at the Splintered Mind, Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside) reports on research he has conducted into the participation of women on the main programs of the meetings of the American Philosophical Association (APA). His findings reveal an upward trend: women’s participation in the 2014-15 meetings, at 32%, was twice that of 40 years ago. He also broke down the sess..