2025/12/21 by Alaina Gostomski, Liz Jackson
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences #Feminist Theory and Gender Studies #Race, Genetics, and Society
paper · doi:10.1080/00131857.2025.2602642
openalex created_date 2025/12/21 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Today, when we look around in our universities and our societies for philosophy of education, it is normal to find women in leadership positions. But this has not always been the case. Women have faced marginalisation as not worthy philosophical subjects or as sociologists or feminist theorists when discussing a wide variety of topics deemed by the powers that be ‘unphilosophical’. The role of women in contemporary academia and philosophy of education is stronger than in the past. At conferences and in higher education, there are plenty of women ‘around’. For these reasons among others, people have questioned why some remain ‘stuck’ on interrogating gender. This special issue focuses on the history of ‘counting women’ in philosophy of education, taking up the case of the recent debate and changing of the name (and mission) of the Committee on the Status of Women (COSW) to the Committee on Gender, Sexuality and the Status of Women (CGSSW), in the Philosophy of Education Society in the United States. Do women count, if we do not count women? In what ways do women ‘count’? These are some of several vital questions raised. This essay serves as an introduction to this special issue which aims to disseminate interviews and other information from an oral history project. It will share more about the history of women in philosophy of education, before providing more context to understand the interviews and essays that follow.