philosophy majors
TagPercentage of Women Graduating with Philosophy Degrees Increases
In 2020, 39% of undegraduates leaving colleges with degrees in philosophy were women, up from 35% in 2017, reports Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside). (more…)
Philosophy Majors & High Standardized Test Scores: Not Just Correlation (guest post)
You’ve probably heard that philosophy majors do well on standardized tests for admission to graduate and professional programs, such as the GRE, LSAT, MCATs, and GMATS. You’ve probably also heard the warning that correlation is not causation. (more…)
Three of Wesleyan’s Graduating Philosophy Majors Earned Their Degrees While In Prison
This month, the first group of seven incarcerated men will be graduating from a recently created program at Wesleyan University with their Bachelor’s degrees. Three of them—Michael Braham, Clyde Meikle, and Andre Pierce—will be graduating as philosophy majors. (more…)
Black Students Are Increasingly Interested in Philosophy (guest post)
“Over the past several years, Black students have become increasingly interested in philosophy, both upon entering their first year of undergraduate study and upon completing the 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…)
The Philosophy Major Sees Increase in Numbers and Diversity (guest post)
“In the midst of this general sharp decline of the humanities, philosophy’s admittedly small and partial recovery stands out.” (more…)
Trend: Fewer Philosophy Majors
The number of philosophy majors in the United States declined in the years leading up to 2015, part of a general decline in the number of humanities majors. (more…)
What Kinds of Universities Lack Philosophy Departments? Some Data (guest post by Eric Schwitzgebel)
The following is a guest post* by Eric Schwitzgebel (University of California, Riverside) that gathers data about the kinds of colleges and universities in the United States that have or lack philosophy departments and a philosophy major program. A version of this post was originally published at his blog, The Splintered Mind.
Profiles of Non-Academics with Philosophy Degrees
Most of the students in our undergraduate philosophy course, even most of philosophy majors, and quite a number of those with graduate degrees in philosophy—do not become professors of philosophy. What do they do with their degrees? Who can we point out to our current students as examples of those who make use of what they’ve learned studying philosophy outside of..
Departmental Alumni Pages
Does your philosophy department have an alumni page on its website? I’m not referring to a page limited to PhD placements, but rather one that includes bachelors and masters degree holders. It’s a great way to advertise the value of studying philosophy to prospective majors and graduate students, and to help them gain a sense of the career possibilities open to them..
Separating Philosophy from Religious Studies and Theology (Updated)
In research on higher education, philosophy majors, religious studies majors, and theology majors are often grouped together. This is because the questionnaires used to create the main data sets on which this research is based group these majors together. This is not merely weird, given how different these fields are, but possibly detrimental to the reputation of ph..
Philosophy Students: A Tumblr
Zac Cogley (Northern Michigan) has created a tumblr featuring links about and pictures of people in the news who have majored in or otherwise studied philosophy. It’s called Philosophy Students. (Submissions welcome.)