Gina Schouten begins her paper by exposing the reader to a problem plaguing the philosophy department. The problem she is referring to is the disproportionate retention of women after the introductory philosophy class. There are more men who continue into the field of philosophy than women. Schouten seeks a way to make this introductory class more conducive to retaining women. Due to the lack of empirical evidence, Schouten argues that the best approach may be a trial and error approach and introduces the Stereotype Threat Hypothesis (STH). The hypothesis states that women know they are expected to preform at a lower level, which causes anxiety that makes them underperform and confirm the stereotype. Then, the underperformance causes women
…show more content…
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