She argues that the students are exposed to gender imbalances upon the first few weeks of class. The syllabus contains mostly male philosophers and the professors are disproportionately male. So students may not come into the discipline believing a certain gender is superior, but they are exposed to a classroom setting very similar to a STEM class and they draw certain conclusions. Students also may not directly identify with the subject of philosophy, but they are intrigued by the potential of eloquently winning arguments and pondering what it is to be human. Schouten argues that this is sufficient to fulfill the condition of identifying with the domain. She also argues that a good student, who does not want to fail, fulfills the domain because they are interested in succeeding in philosophy. Finally, Schouten argues that the mediating variable may not be needed at all because there is not an effective objective method to test knowledge of philosophy, therefore you cannot objectively state an underperformance of a certain gender. She also argues that while it might be a necessary condition, there is not proof to show that it is not unnecessary. Now we are all good to go to apply STH and potentially remedy the gender gap in the philosophy
She argues that the students are exposed to gender imbalances upon the first few weeks of class. The syllabus contains mostly male philosophers and the professors are disproportionately male. So students may not come into the discipline believing a certain gender is superior, but they are exposed to a classroom setting very similar to a STEM class and they draw certain conclusions. Students also may not directly identify with the subject of philosophy, but they are intrigued by the potential of eloquently winning arguments and pondering what it is to be human. Schouten argues that this is sufficient to fulfill the condition of identifying with the domain. She also argues that a good student, who does not want to fail, fulfills the domain because they are interested in succeeding in philosophy. Finally, Schouten argues that the mediating variable may not be needed at all because there is not an effective objective method to test knowledge of philosophy, therefore you cannot objectively state an underperformance of a certain gender. She also argues that while it might be a necessary condition, there is not proof to show that it is not unnecessary. Now we are all good to go to apply STH and potentially remedy the gender gap in the philosophy