Scheman received her bachelor's in philosophy from
Barnard College in 1968. She went on to receive a master's and doctorate in philosophy from
Harvard University, in 1971 and 1978, respectively. Scheman is currently a professor at University of Minnesota, and a guest professor at
Umeå University. During her time at the University of Minnesota, she served as the chair of the Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies department from 1986 to 1989, and has served as the Director of Graduate Studies since 2007. Prior to her current positions, Scheman has held appointments at the
University of Ottawa,
Columbia University, the
Center for Advanced Feminist Studies (including serving as director from 1991 to 1992 and associate dean of the graduate school from 2000 to 2003,) and the
University of Gothenburg. Scheman also serves as a member of the editorial boards of
Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy and ''NORA (the Nordic Women's Studies Journal)
. She also served as an associate editor of Signs'' between 1990 and 1993. ==Research areas==