'Philosophy is for posh, white boys with trust funds' – why are there so few women?

By Rebecca Ratcliffe and Claire Shaw. Philosophy stands out among the humanities: it’s one of the few subject areas where women are vastly outnumbered by men.
Although male and female students take philosophy undergraduate courses in almost equal numbers, the number of women who pursue a career in philosophy is much lower. A recent report by the Equality Challenge Unit found that, among non-Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, philosophy is one of the most male-dominated, with men accounting for 71.2% of the profession. More...