The anglophone philosophy profession has a well-known problem with gender equity. A significant aspect of the problem is the fact that there are simply so many more male philosophers than female philosophers among students and faculty alike. The problem is at its stark-est at the faculty level, where only 22% – 24% of philosophers are female in the United States (Van Camp 2014), the United Kingdom (Beebee & Saul 2011) and Australia (Goddard 2008).<1> While this is a result of the percentage of women declining at each point through-out the standard career trajectory, recent large-scale studies in the United States (Paxton et al. 2012) and Australia (Goddard et al. 2008) have identified a key drop-off point as the transition between taking introductory classes and majoring in philosophy. So why do disproportionately few female students choose to major in philosophy?
Keywords
women in philosophy, philosophy profession, gender
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