Graduate Working Group in Philosophy and Pedagogy

Jonathan Caravello
Philosophy
UC Santa Barbara

Sherri Lynn Conklin
Philosophy
UC Santa Barbara

Michael Rescorla
Philosophy
UC Santa Barbara

In Philosophy, less than 25% of tenure track positions are held by women, and less than 1% are held by minority candidates – making Philosophy comparable only to STEM fields, such as Physics and Engineering, in terms of this disparity. This lack of diversity is a detriment to the growth of the discipline as perspectives of women and minority philosophers are filtered out. The working group investigates the various filters leading to the pipeline problem in academic philosophy. The group organized research and outreach activities focusing on how to increase the number of women and minority students in the undergraduate Philosophy major, in order to best encourage parity at the professional level. The focus of the group rests on pedagogical techniques, classroom climate, perceptions of the discipline, and deterring factors prior to college.