> As someone who spent 12 years of my life in academia (postsecondary, university life), this is nothing like the “culture in academia” I know. This isn't some

> As someone who spent 12 years of my life in academia (postsecondary, university life), this is nothing like the “culture in academia” I know. This isn't something that just happened overnight. I studied and worked in academia for over 20 years. in 1997 this would have been unheard of. But by 2018 (when I left) there was a noticeable reluctance for people to espouse opinions which would be in opposition to the prevailing groupthink. It's been a long and slow slide, but this is hardly the first time this has been reported upon. It's been a problem for years in the US, and it's just as bad in the UK. I personally think this is a travesty, and a complete perversion of the freedom of thought and diversity of opinion which academia is intended to foster, and it's one of the reasons I would not return to academia. Not being able to speak your mind is like something out of East Germany. But by the time I left, people were so worried about being punished for their opinions that if someone told a joke, there would be a noticeable delay while each member of the audience worked out if it was "acceptable" to laugh at it or not. What kind of environment is that to work in? A terrible one, with little trust in one's coworkers that you won't reported for an "unaccceptable" thought. That's not the environment I started out in.