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07:51
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Q: Is philosophy male-dominated? If so, why?

Meanach"Philosophy is for posh white boys with trust funds". A report by the Equality Challenge Unit in 2015 showed that over 70% of employed philosophers in the UK are white men. Of course, other countries might be a paradise of equality or this exchange might me. I suspect that this is not so. I put m...

education gender equality
Mauro ALLEGRANZA
Mauro ALLEGRANZA
Maybe because Western society (but not only) is till "male dominated"?
armand
armand
Is that 70% more or less than in any other academic field?
Meanach
Meanach
53% of all academic staff overall in the UK are male, against 71% in philosophy.
Canadian Coder
Canadian Coder
A higher proportion of women prefer socially based disciplines. I've never understood why it's so difficult to accept that men and women like different things. Yes, there is cultural conditioning, but that conditioning isn't arbitrary, it's rooted in what men/women are more likely to prefer. The goal isn't a 50/50 split, it's to make philosophy a safe space for the women who are interested in it.
Scott Rowe
Scott Rowe
Basically, the question boils down to: "Why do people go in to Philosophy?" Then determine if any of the factors have to do with physical attributes of people. They might go in to it because they are not suited for other fields - there are probably few bodybuilders in Philosophy. Maybe they are not good at other academic fields either?
Just Some Old Man
Just Some Old Man
07:51
I placed a close vote for being opinion-based. As we see in the comments and answers, people have absolute certainty that 1) this is a problem, which is not obvious (Is the NBA being black-dominated or sewer-cleaning being male-dominated a problem?) and 2) their politically inherited narrative has sufficiently answered the question.
Meanach
Meanach
What part is opinion-based? The evidence I cite? It is a problem as the evidence shows. I have no idea what you mean by politically inherited narrative. Perhaps you could answer the question instead of voting to close it down.
wizzwizz4
wizzwizz4
@JustSomeOldMan It's not opinion-based: we just disagree on the answer. You wouldn't close the Stack Overflow question “Does React slow down websites? If so, why?” for being opinion-based, even though it'd have a similar problem in its answers. What you might call a “politically inherited narrative”, other people might call… philosophies. (The main difference, imo, is how much you've thought about and can explain them; though philosophers rarely end up believing exactly what they've inherited.)
user76284
user76284
There's nothing to be "remedied". People have different interests.
@Meanach "It is a problem as the evidence shows." What evidence?
Meanach
Meanach
@76284 The report by the Equality Challenge Unit in the UK in 2015 cited in the body in the question.
IKnowNothing
IKnowNothing
Now do a report about the gender inequality among bricklayers and childcare providers.
user76284
user76284
07:51
@Meanach State in your own words what the evidence is that this is a "problem".
Meanach
Meanach
Evidence does not subsist in my words or anyone's. Evidence is cited in my question., as one example. There is plenty more out there. Look it up.
I have cited the evidence. Your comment is gibberish. I have flagged your comment and advise you to desist.
user76284
user76284
@Meanach You have been unable to explain why it's a "problem" that people have different interests. Your claim that this is a "problem" is gibberish.
Mooing Duck
Mooing Duck
@Meanach: Your question notes that most philosophers are male. You are connecting this fact to to an implication "philosophy dominated by males does not accurately reflect the voices of women or minorities", which you imply connects to a problem that you did NOT explicitly state: "philosophy that does not accurately reflect the voices of women or minorities is...." flawed? incomplete? evil? I'm not 100% certain what the actual problem is that you're reaching. Neither is user76284. (I agree theres various problems, but it's hard to debate if you haven't clarified which you're focusing on)
user253751
user253751
@MooingDuck do you have evidence showing it DOES accurately reflect the voices of women or minorities and there is no underlying discrimination-based reason their voices want different things?
@JustSomeOldMan You seem to have absolute certainty there is NOT a problem. So write that answer, instead of closing everything that makes you feel uncomfortable. The fact that so many people (mostly, apparently, white men!) want to close or otherwise disparage this question clearly shows the need for this question to be asked!!!
JBH
JBH
In support of @Cdn_Dev's comment, claiming that philosophy is "male dominated" is a bias that has not been substantiated in the question. All we know is that there are more of one demographic than others. Why aren't there more Asians or Transgendered? Is it height dominated? (I'm going out on a limb to assume there's far more people over 1.5 meters than below.) "Dominated" suggests a form of oppression is occurring - that the status quo is compelling itself to continue. Is there evidence of this? (Continued)
... As written, the question is no more than, "why are there more white male philosophers than others?" While I would be interested to know if there are studies that attempt to address that very general question, without them the question is entirely opinion-based. Please keep in mind that the question is very much different from, "should there be a greater diversity of philosophers than white males?" Which is most certainly answered, "Yes!"
user76284
user76284
07:51
@user253751 You're the one advancing the claim, and thus have the burden of proof.
 
5 hours later…
user253751
user253751
12:49
No, you are advancing a claim that there is no problem.

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