According to the U.S. Bureau of Education Statistics, only 20 percent of all postsecondary teachers of philosophy are women, and only 16 percent are in tenure-track jobs. A common explanation is that women just aren’t very interested in the topics philosophy concerns itself with, but a more accurate way to put it is that men police the boundaries of philosophy to exclude as “unphilosophical” the things that people in socially privileged positions don’t care about. When women, people of color, and people in other disadvantaged social groups join the philosophical conversation, they broaden and enrich it. All philosophers should want that to happen. So excluding women from prominent positions on conference programs is not only unfair to women, it enervates the profession.--Hilde Lindemann (Michigan State).
The petition is here; the The most recent list of signatures is here; the call for action is here; the Gendered Conference Campaign is here.
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