Evolutionary Theory Has Arrived in the Human Behavioral Sciences—But Not The Structure of Higher Education

Evolutionary theory has been restricted to the biological sciences and avoided for most human-related subjects for most of the 20 century. This situation is rapidly changing, resulting in a mismatch between current research and the structure of higher education. Using the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences as a microcosm, I show that a large fraction of target articles are written from an evolutionary perspective across a diversity of subject areas. Since BBS is one of the premier journals in the human behavioral sciences, this demonstrates that the evolutionary perspective is not fringe science (as often portrayed), or future science, but has already arrived. Nevertheless, a survey sent to the authors of these articles reveals that a) most did not receive formal evolutionary training during their own higher education and acquired their expertise on their own; b) many feel isolated within their own departments and universities, despite being at the forefront of research nationally and internationally; and c) most estimate that the situation at their current institution is little different for today’s graduate students than when they were graduate students. In short, a major theoretical perspective in the human behavioral sciences is not yet reflected in the structure of higher education.