[Paper Review] Making Room for Women in our Tools for Teaching Logic: A Proposal for Promoting Gender-Inclusiveness

Frederique Janssen‐Lauret|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jul 16, 2015

Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications5 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes integrating original research by female authors into logic curricula to promote gender inclusiveness. By assigning substantial readings from women like Barcan Marcus, Edgington, and Haack, the author observed a significant increase in female students' sense of inclusion, outperforming other strategies like emphasizing effort over talent. The key contribution is a practical framework for revising syllabuses, reading lists, and essay questions to center women's contributions in formal and philosophical logic.

ABSTRACT

Logic is one of the most male-dominated areas within the already hugely male-dominated subject of philosophy. Popular hypotheses for this disparity include a preponderance of confident, mathematically-minded male students in the classroom, the historical association between logic and maleness, and the lack of female role-models for students, though to date none of these have been empirically tested. In this paper I discuss the effects of various attempts to address these potential causes whilst teaching second-year formal and philosophical logic courses at different universities in the UK. I found the most noticeable positive effect came from assigning a good proportion of reading by female authors presenting an original point of view. I go on to suggest some implementations for incorporating more texts by female authors into our arsenal of tools for teaching logic.

Motivation & Objective

• Address the underrepresentation of women in logic teaching materials and curricula.
• Counteract the stereotype that logic is inherently masculine by showcasing female-authored original research.
• Improve female student inclusion and engagement in formal and philosophical logic courses.
• Develop practical, implementable strategies for syllabus and reading list reform in logic education.
• Create a model for gender-inclusive pedagogy in logic that centers women as original thinkers, not just commentators.

Proposed method

• Assign a significant proportion of original research papers by female authors as core course readings.
• Reframe essay questions to compare or evaluate female-authored theories on equal footing with male-authored ones.
• Revise introductory descriptions on reading lists to present women as originators of key views, not just commentators.
• Advocate for the creation of accessible, searchable databases of women’s writing in logic and philosophy of logic.
• Encourage textbook and anthology editors to include metadata identifying female authors to improve discoverability.
• Use student feedback and anecdotal performance data to assess the impact of gender-inclusive reading assignments.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does assigning original research by female authors affect female students’ sense of inclusion in logic courses?
• RQ2 To what extent do strategies emphasizing effort over innate ability improve student performance and engagement?
• RQ3 What role do visible female role models play in reducing gender disparities in logic education?
• RQ4 How can reading lists and syllabuses be systematically revised to include more original contributions by women in logic?
• RQ5 What structural barriers prevent instructors from easily incorporating women’s work into logic curricula, and how can they be overcome?

Key findings

• The most noticeable positive effect on student inclusion came from assigning a substantial proportion of original research by female authors as set reading.
• Female students reported feeling significantly more included when their work was featured as original contributions rather than as commentary on male-authored theories.
• Strategies emphasizing effort over innate ability had some positive effect, as indicated by anecdotal student feedback and improved test scores.
• Even modest representation—such as one-third of readings by women—led to measurable improvements in female student engagement and belonging.
• The lack of accessible, searchable databases of women’s work in logic remains a major barrier to curriculum reform.
• Female authors such as Barcan Marcus, Edgington, Haack, and Grover were identified as key contributors whose original work can be meaningfully integrated into logic syllabuses.