Charles Lassiter, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University, has made available on his website the results of a study he undertook to identify the fields of philosophy in which positions were available during the academic year 2022–2023. Some might find the array of statistics wearying, but such information is invaluable for doctoral students and those expected to guide them.
To see why, consider two of my former advisees who both had superb academic records. The first wrote an excellent dissertation in philosophy of religion, having already as a graduate student published extensively in that field. Unfortunately, the student received no offers of a faculty position and eventually pursued a non-academic career.
The second had no publications but after weighing several areas of interest decided to maximize employment possibilities by writing a dissertation in ethics. Having done so, this student received two offers and went on to enjoy success in academic life.
Professor Lassiter’s report suggests a reason why the two fared so differently. In this past year, which was typical, 164 positions were posted as suitable for those seeking tenure-track assistant professorships. How many of the announcements specified ethics as a field of interest? Fifty-two. How many specified philosophy of religion? Two. Granted, more applicants specialized in ethics than in philosophy of religion; nevertheless, the odds did not favor anyone who worked in the latter field. Nor did philosophers of language or aestheticians fare much better, for they found only eight and four possibilities, respectively.
Why were so many positions announced in ethics and so few in these other fields? The obvious answer is that far more courses are taught in some aspect of ethics than in philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, or aesthetics. These subject are equally worthy, but at most schools student demand for them is not especially strong.
While the number of openings in any particular area will vary from year to year, departments need to provide coverage for the courses they offer, and curricula rarely change dramatically. Admittedly, no one should be expected to alter intellectual interests to match the market. Yet a student concerned, for instance, with both ethics and philosophy of religion would enhance the possibility of finding an academic position by choosing a dissertation topic in ethics, even if later deciding to specialize in philosophy of religion.
Such was the career pattern of one of my doctoral advisors Arthur Danto (1924-2013). Until he earned tenure, he worked mostly in philosophy of history, philosophy of science, and action theory. Subsequently, his long-standing passion for the visual arts came to the fore and became the focus of virtually all his writing, resulting in his earning an international reputation as a leading art critic and philosopher of art.
Finally, consider a moral dilemma that may arise for advisors. What is one to do if a student indicates an interest in working on a topic within the professor’s area of expertise but does not realize that academic positions in that specialty are highly limited? Should the advisor, at least partially out of self-interest, be encouraging or, for the sake of the student’s career opportunities, be discouraging?
Whatever the choice, I suggest that the advisor urge the student to consult a report such as Professor Lassiter’s, thereby enabling a decision made in light of the best available evidence. Of course, no one knows whether a particular topic will lead to obtaining a faculty position, but responsible advisors should at least alert students to information that might help them deliberate about their options.
Steven M. Cahn
Steven M Cahn is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Among the recent books he has authored are Teaching Philosophy: A Guide (Routledge, 2018); Inside Academia: Professors, Politics, and Policies (Rutgers, 2019); Navigating Academic Life: How the System Works (Routledge, 2021); Professors as Teachers (Wipf and Stock, 2022), and, most recently, From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor, Second Edition (Wipf and Stock, 2024).
