Philosophy PhD Programs: University of Oklahoma and Tilburg University

In this blog post I provide some detailed, up-to-date information about two philosophy PhD programs. This week's picks are University of Oklahoma and Tilburg University. These programs were chosen randomly, using an app called "Pickster." (Next week's picks are listed at the bottom of this post.) This information comes from the APDA database, and was updated by my research assistant, Anna Durbin, using the program's placement page and what she could find online. The running tally includes select numbers from all of the programs covered so far.

tl;dr

• Both Oklahoma and Tilburg are small programs, limiting the information we can report
• Further, Tilburg does not have a complete placement page, nor a record of dissertations defended
• Both programs have lower than average placement into permanent academic positions
• Tilburg students tend to focus on Science, Logic, and Math, whereas Oklahoma students tend to focus on Value Theory
• Oklahoma appears to have a lower than average percentage of women among its graduate students

Overall placement, 2012-present
Oklahoma had 25 PhD graduates in this period, whereas Tilburg had 15. Of Oklahoma's 25 graduates, 23 went into academic or unknown employment, and they placed 8 of these into tenure-track or other permanent academic positions (35%), with 1 of these in a program that offers a PhD in philosophy (4%). Tilburg placed 2 of 13 into permanent academic positions (15%), with 1 in a philosophy program with a PhD (8%).

Of Oklahoma's other graduates, 2 are in postdoctoral or fellowship positions, 10 have other temporary positions, 2 are in nonacademic positions, and 3 have no or unknown placement.

Of Tilburg's other graduates, 8 are in postdoctoral or fellowship positions, 1 has a temporary academic placement, 2 are in nonacademic positions, and 2 have no or unknown placement.

Nonacademic positions held by graduates of Oklahoma include service representative and consultant, whereas those held by graduates of Tilburg include information technology and guide.

Too few Oklahoma and Tilburg graduates provided salary or job preference information to report.

The current database values for all 2012 and later graduates now in permanent academic positions, out of those in academic positions overall, is 42%, with 14% in programs that offer a PhD in philosophy. The average salary of all graduates who took part in the survey is $68,542 and 90% prefer an academic job.

Areas of Specialization, by Category
Including all past and current students in the APDA database, 36% of Oklahoma students are in Language, Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Mind (LEMM), 39% are in Value Theory, 7% are in History and Traditions, and 18% are in Science, Logic and Math. 18% of Tilburg students are in LEMM, 24% are in Value Theory, none are in History and Traditions, and 59% are in Science, Logic, and Math. For Oklahoma, the plurality of graduates 2012 onward placed into permanent academic positions were in Value Theory (50%), whereas permanent placement was split between LEMM and Science, Logic, and Math for Tilburg.

Note that the current database values for all past graduates and current students are 28% in LEMM, 33% in Value Theory, 24% in History and Traditions, and 15% in Science, Logic, and Math.

Diversity
Including all past graduates and current students, 18% of those from Oklahoma are women, as are 38% of Tilburg students.

The current database percentage is 31% for all past graduates and current students.

Including all past graduates and current students, 14% of those who answered questions about race and ethnicity from Oklahoma identified as something other than White, non-Hispanic. (Too few from Tilburg provided this information to report.)

13% is the overall proportion reported by APDA in 2017. The percentage from the Diversity and Inclusivity survey is 14%. The current database percentage is 21%, but this is likely inflated relative to the true population due to some of our data gathering efforts.

Too few Oklahoma and Tilburg students provided information about SES status to report.

The percentage of all survey respondents who are first generation college students is 23.4%, compared to 31% for all United States doctoral degree recipients in 2015.

Students from Oklahoma provided one public comment on how philosophy could be more inclusive:

I would like to see the profession address issues of class and general equity. Classism is everywhere in the profession. It would be nice for philosophers to admit this and take steps to minimize it where possible.

(Students from Tilburg did not provide any such public comments.)

Program Rating

Too few Oklahoma and Tilburg students provided program ratings to report.

Public Comments

(Note that these comments primarily come from current students and recent graduates, but in some cases may be from non-recent graduates.)

Oklahoma students provided public comments on the program overall:

Quality of classes, professors and placement program.

Supportive faculty, supportive staff, friendly climate among grad students. The faculty in my subfield (virtue ethics) is also very good research-wise.

This program is unranked and has had complaints filed against them for sexism. I was very uncomfortable in this department.

on preparation for teaching:

I received no advice or preparation.

on preparation for research:

I think we have exemplary faculty with respect to their production of papers and books. Sometimes (like with undergrad teaching) I wish there was more formal instruction on how to produce publications.

We were told not to publish in graduate school. This is very bad advice in the current climate.

and on financial support:

It was no better or worse than what I know about other programs.

(Tilburg students did not provide any public comments on the program overall.)

Next week I hope to look at University of Texas, Austin and Indiana University, HPS. Feedback is welcome, at apda@ucmerced.edu.

Link to this post at: https://academic-placement-data-and-analysis.ghost.io/philosophy-phd-programs-university-of-oklahoma-and-tilburg-university/