tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post3736361836578198170..comments2024-03-25T11:49:21.281-07:00Comments on The Splintered Mind: Gender Disparity in Philosophy, by Race and EthnicityEric Schwitzgebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-18246569375601197062021-04-07T11:36:58.984-07:002021-04-07T11:36:58.984-07:00Thanks, all. The normative questions are tricky! ...Thanks, all. The normative questions are tricky! I don't think universal parity for all races and genders is what we ought to expect even in a perfectly just and well-structured society. Regardless of how the normative issues play out, I think it's useful to look at empirically what is the case.Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16274774112862434865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-59127731463361559722021-04-04T13:37:26.069-07:002021-04-04T13:37:26.069-07:00My last comment (“2/3…”) was unnecessarily snarky....My last comment (“2/3…”) was unnecessarily snarky. Sorry. So, let me state it a little differently. The impression I get is that increasing the proportion of women that major in philosophy is construed as a victory for justice over injustice. However, what women major in is (predominantly) a zero-sum game. I presume that if it turned out that increases in the number of women in philosophy only benefited institutional philosophy, and only at the expense of, say, institutional psychology, then that would be problematic or at least not nearly the victory for justice that some might have thought they were getting. The goal should be increasing the number of women majoring in philosophy who would have majored in philosophy but for some expected injustice or harm or something of that sort and are now majoring in philosophy because of its elimination. Maybe that’s what changes in raw proportions is tracking, but do we have good reason for thinking that’s the case? For instance, if an outreach effort convinces a woman to major in philosophy instead of pre-med, who is that a victory for? Given the job market, if she continues in philosophy, there's a decent chance that convincing her to major in philosophy would make her tremendously worse off.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-84792620404736067482021-04-03T13:12:30.530-07:002021-04-03T13:12:30.530-07:002/3 of Black BA recipients are women. As such, gen...2/3 of Black BA recipients are women. As such, gender "parity" among Black philosophy majors would arguably be 1:2 men to women, not 1:1. Though frankly, insofar as any of this is normative, I find focusing on the demographics of philosophy majors, etc. odd. Since most students don't double-major, if the proportion of women that major in philosophy is too low, that means that the proportion of women in some other major is too high. So which major has too many women?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-7346336533535247682021-04-03T11:20:00.899-07:002021-04-03T11:20:00.899-07:00Could be related to the so-called "gender-equ...Could be related to the so-called "gender-equality paradox" in which, supposedly, countries which are thought to be more egalitarian on gender issues have bigger gaps between male and female participation in STEM fields than countries that are thought to be less egalitarian. Note, though, that some people have contested this finding.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-27821998048754330832021-04-02T16:25:25.757-07:002021-04-02T16:25:25.757-07:00I guessed and googled, the phrase - "Women Ri...I guessed and googled, the phrase - "Women Rising" as maybe on topic to your (women's) "demographic trends in academic philosophy" - because I was affected by my three older sisters in the 1940s-1950s in learning to respect their life choices as time has gone on...<br /><br />...So I have no real knowledge of "Women Rising", but in just a little reading about them, I would think their over 100 year history would a boon to expressing and increasing women philosophers participation in "demographic trends in academic philosophy"...<br /><br />and again thanks for the good reads...Arnoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02580641063222662041noreply@blogger.com