We gathered syllabi from introductory level philosophy courses taught at the top 40 small liberal arts schools in the country (as ranked by U.S. World News). The results of this research confirmed our suspicions. So far we have collected 57 introductory level philosophy syllabi from 22 of the schools contacted. By our count there are a total of 739 philosophers included on the syllabi and only 60 of these are female. So a mere eight percent of reading covered in introductory level philosophy courses are written by women. Thirty one of the 57 courses include no female authors at all (courses included an average of thirteen philosophers on their syllabi). Further, if we were to exclude the syllabi from the ethics courses and include the syllabi only from the 43 non-ethics courses, the percentage of female philosophers discussed is even lower. By our count, these non-ethics syllabi include 602 philosophers on the reading lists, with only 36 of these being female—so a mere 6 percent of philosophers discussed in non-ethics courses are female. Twenty-four of the 46 non-ethics courses included no female authors at all.
Looking into the gender distribution of authors in current intro textbooks was a bit depressing. I looked at ~20 intro to philosophy textbooks published since 2000 and I found that women make up only ~6% of the authors. Of the total number of pieces by women, ~44% of the articles were on feminism, sexism, abortion, etc. Five of the textbooks included one (or more) pieces by Ayn Rand. Without entering the debate about whether or not Ayn Rand's work should be read in philosophy courses, I would expect that her work is not assigned by the majority of instructors using those five textbooks.
An important reason for this is the lack of awareness of work by women authors, especially on topics other than those typically associated with female philosophers (such as feminism, reproductive ethics and the like). When it comes to areas like metaphysics, for instance, most (or all) of the readings offered are typically male (even in a philosophy of science course, it's not uncommon to find only male authors). This might give female students the impression that if they are not interested in feminism, reproductive ethics and other female-associated philosophical specializations, they should not bother with philosophy. Male stereotyping might even continue to contribute to the maleness of some areas in professional philosophy. In the PhilPapers survey, for instance, shows that women, compared to men, are more likely to work in Philosophy of Gender, Race, and Sexuality, and less likely to work in metaphysics or philosophy of probability.
To get female students engaged, it seems important to get readings by female philosophers on a wide range of topics, also those typically associated with male authors, such as metaphysics, philosophy of language, or philosophy of religion. The google spreadsheet with readings by female philosophers may be a starting point to look for suitable readings.
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