Over the weekend I was talking to some people about how we might increase the number of women in philosophy. The sad truth is that there still are only around 20 percent women in philosophy jobs. But as has been pointed out numerous times, the problem starts at the undergraduate level. If we could get more women to major in philosophy, there would be a greater pool of female applicants for PhD programs to choose from and more women to hire in tenure-track positions.
Of course, there is a super-simple solution to this problem. Hire more women in TT positions to serve as role models for undergraduate students. Problem: Vicious circle. There aren't enough women to hire. The star programs snap up most of the women on the market. That makes it difficult for less well ranked programs to find women to hire. Or so I am told.
I hasten to say that I don’t believe this is the full extent of the problem. I am quite sure that a man is sometimes chosen over an equally qualified woman for a PhD scholarship or a TT job. But I am going to set that aside here in order to focus on what we might do to attract more women and keep the women already in philosophy happy. Most of this has been said before but I don’t think it will hurt to repeat it.
- Most of us women are completely turned off by too much male testosterone. So, put an end to the aggressiveness. Stop pretending you are a literary critic from New York Times. You can ask your questions in a kind and respectful way. It doesn’t decrease the quality of your question. Au contraire. There is nothing better than a sharp comment or devastating counterexample presented in a sympathetic and considerate manner.
- Stop treating us like sex objects. We know you usually can’t help it. It’s automatic, a product of evolution. But you can control it if you think hard enough about it. So, stop staring at our breasts when you talk to us. Stop discussing our butts when you think we can’t hear you. Treat us in a gender-neutral way. We are not women or men when we do philosophy. We are just philosophers.
- Young women sometimes tell me that they don’t have anyone to socialize with at APA meetings because everyone already has made plans with their old buddies. The old boys’ clubs are meeting in the bar, making themselves available for a little chit-chat with others, but then around dinnertime they split. When you arrange your dinners and get-togethers (we know that’s why you go to these meetings), include some women. Ask your buddies if they know any women going to the meeting. Then email them and ask them to come out with you to your gatherings. Acting like you are part of an old boys’ club is soooo uncool anyway.
- When you are attending a talk or graduate seminar and a woman is asking a question, you might feel that she is going on and on and on. Stop that thought right away. It’s just something you feel. There are studies showing that we perceive women’s questions as longer and more tedious than men’s, even when they ask the very same question! So, let the woman speak, make sure she gets plenty of follow-ups, and if you think her question is 8 minutes long, divide that by 2.
- Don’t judge a woman’s talk or class presentation harshly because she is a little nervous. It is well known that more women suffer from anxiety than men. That includes social anxiety and fear of public speaking. Perhaps it is estrogen-related. We don’t really know. But it can be debilitating. So, when you see a woman give a talk that does not seem quite as professional as the talk by the man before her, cut her some slack. Focus on the content and the structure of the talk, not on the style of presentation.
- When you talk to a group of philosophers that includes both women and men, make sure that you are not just looking at the men. Men have an annoying tendency to ignore women when other men are present. It’s really uncomfortable for the women in the group, and it’s even worse if the group consists of just one woman and her male buddy. REALLY uncomfortable! Trust me. So, divide your attention evenly.
- When you teach lower-level undergraduate courses, make sure that you include a lot of literature written by women. That can be inspirational for young women. They might just think, “If she could do this, so can I.” Give the students a little background about the authors. Tell them about the women they are reading: where they work, what they specialize in, which other work they have completed. Make them come alive for your students.
- Finally, a piece of advice for women only. All you women out there, apply to this workshop:
Call for Submissions
A Networking and Mentoring Workshop for Graduate Student Women in Philosophy
Co-Directors: Elisabeth Camp, Elizabeth Harman, and Jill North
Female PhD and DPhil students and prospective students in philosophy are invited to submit papers on any topic in philosophy to participate in a workshop at Princeton University, August 21-24, 2014.
Thirty-five students will be selected to participate. Seven students will have their papers discussed; fourteen students will serve as commentators, and fourteen as chairs. In addition to the seven philosophy sessions, there will be five sessions at which professional advice is offered by twelve faculty mentors.
The workshop will provide meals and shared rooms for three nights at the Nassau Inn for all participants. The workshop will reimburse up to $400 of travel costs. Participants traveling with children will be provided with a single room rather than a shared room. The workshop will also provide information about how to find babysitters in the Princeton area.
We are committed to accommodating all participants with disabilities.
Mentors:
Karen Bennett, Cornell University
Elisabeth Camp, Rutgers University
Ruth Chang, Rutgers University
Elizabeth Harman, Princeton University
Jennifer Lackey, Northwestern University
Sarah-Jane Leslie, Princeton University
Ishani Maitra, University of Michigan
Jill North, Cornell University
Debra Satz, Stanford University
Jennifer Uleman, Purchase College, State University of New York
Katja Vogt, Columbia University
Susan Wolf, University of North Carolina
Advice Topics:
Getting the most out of graduate school
Writing a dissertation
Publishing
Presenting and participating at conferences
Teaching
Preparing for the job market
Starting a tenure-track job
Balancing work with the rest of life
Papers on any topic in philosophy are welcome. Submissions must be no longer than 7,000 words, including notes and references, and must be prepared for anonymous review. The submission deadline is March 1, 2014. We will notify all applicants of our decision by the end of May 2014.
The online submission form is linked from the workshop webpage:
This is the first in a series of three workshops that will occur biennially. These three workshops will reach more than 100 graduate student women across five years.
Workshop Sponsors:
Cornell University Sage School of Philosophy
The Marc Sanders Foundation
Princeton University Center for Human Values
Princeton University Department of Philosophy
Princeton University Council of the Humanities
Princeton University Diversity Initiative
Rutgers University Department of Philosophy
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