Why is there female under-representation among philosophy majors? Evidence of a pre-university effect
Journal article
Baron, Sam, Dougherty, Tom and Miller, Kristie. (2015). Why is there female under-representation among philosophy majors? Evidence of a pre-university effect. Ergo. 2(14), pp. 330-365. https://doi.org/10.3998/ergo.12405314.0002.014
Authors | Baron, Sam, Dougherty, Tom and Miller, Kristie |
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Abstract | Why does female under-representation emerge during undergraduate education? At the University of Sydney, we surveyed students before and after their first philosophy course. We failed to find any evidence that this course disproportionately discouraged female students from continuing in philosophy relative to male students. Instead, we found evidence of an interaction effect between gender and existing attitudes about philosophy coming into tertiary education that appears at least partially responsible for this poor retention. At the first lecture, disproportionately few female students intended to major. Further, at the first lecture, female students were less interested in philosophy, were less self-confident about philosophy, and were less able to imagine themselves as philosophers. Similarly, female students predicted they would feel more uncomfortable in philosophy classes than male students did. Further study with a control is warranted to determine whether this interaction effect is peculiar to philosophy, or whether it is indicative of a more general gendered trend amongst first year undergraduate students. |
Year | 2015 |
Journal | Ergo |
Journal citation | 2 (14), pp. 330-365 |
Publisher | Michigan Publishing |
ISSN | 2330-4014 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3998/ergo.12405314.0002.014 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 330-365 |
Funder | Australian Research Council (ARC) |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 2015 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 24 Aug 2021 |
ARC Funded Research | This output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 |
Grant ID | ARC/DP0987186 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8wq24/why-is-there-female-under-representation-among-philosophy-majors-evidence-of-a-pre-university-effect
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Publisher's version
OA_Baron_2015_Why_is_there_female_under_representation.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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