Encyclopedia of Women Philosophers

 

Martha Nussbaum in 2008

A New Web Site Presents the Contributions of Women Philosophers, from Ancient to Modern

In the research on which Lombrozo reports, studies found that “the biggest drop in the proportion of women in the philosophy pipeline seems to be from enrollment in an introductory philosophy class to becoming a philosophy major. At Georgia State, for example, women make up about 55 percent of Introduction to Philosophy students but only around 33 percent of philosophy majors.” This may have to do with the fact that “readings on the syllabus were overwhelmingly by men (over 89 percent).”

As Georgia State graduate student Morgan Thompson explained at a conference in 2013:

This problem is compounded by the fact that introductory philosophy textbooks have an even worse gender balance; women account for only 6 percent of authors in a number of introductory philosophy textbooks.

In a conversation with Julian Baggini on why there are so few women in academic philosophy, Mary Warnock once noted that “of all the humanities departments in British universities, only philosophy departments have a mere 25% women members.” That number is even lower in the US. “Why should this be?” Warnock asked. She asserted that the problem may lie with the discipline itself. “I think that academic philosophy has become an extraordinarily inward-looking subject,” she said, “If you pick up a professional journal now, you find little nitpicking responses to previous articles. Women tend to get more easily bored with this than men. Philosophy seems to stop being interesting just when it starts to be professional.”

From here: The Encyclopedia of Women Philosophers: Contributions of Women Philosophers, from Ancient to Modern | Open Culture

Related reading: Four Women Revived Metaphysics; The Dearth of Women in Philosophy; Wise Women Throughout the Ages