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Why This Math Professor Objects to Diversity Statements

8 points by fortran77 3y ago

dangus 3y ago
Basically, this professor is whining about “compelled speech” in the form of a DEI statement in your job application to become a professor. If you gave me a nickel for every time a prospective employer asked me to write stuff I rather don’t feel like writing like “why do you want to work for Widgets, Inc?,” I don’t know if I’d need to work anymore. I just think the whole debate is a little overthought. The dude is comparing it to Soviet loyalty pledges…no, I personally don’t think it gets to that level. From the school’s perspective, it’s simple: they don’t want to hire professors who are going to be grading based on their biases and prejudices. They don’t want math professors who are like my calculus professor who told the whole class his preference on boob sizes. Gee, I wonder if that guy graded men differently than women? A DEI statement is like a bare minimum pulse check to make sure professors aren’t going to get the school sued for discrimination. I can perhaps be convinced to agree with the idea that college bureaucracy has spiraled out of control. That said, the 100 people in Michigan’s DEI office is a ratio of one DEI administrator for every 500 students. Michigan is a huge school, those administrators may actually have a lot of work to do.
- eesmith 3y ago
  > The dude is comparing it to Soviet loyalty pledges That's ripe since the State of California has required since around 1950 that its employees - including university professors - sign an oath of allegiance. "I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter." This has long been found constitutional.
  - fortran77 3y ago
    When I got a part time job teaching at a local community college, I was presented with this oath to sign. (This was pre-Internet). I told them that I had never read the CA State constitution. I signed it anyway, and then went to the library to find it and read it. It's 100+ pages long. I can be pretty sore that the majorty of people who signed this oath never read it. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=CONS&tocTitle=+California+Constitution+-+CONS https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xh...

8 points by fortran77 3y ago

Basically, this professor is whining about “compelled speech” in the form of a DEI statement in your job application to become a professor. If you gave me a nickel for every time a prospective employer asked me to write stuff I rather don’t feel like writing like “why do you want to work for Widgets, Inc?,” I don’t know if I’d need to work anymore. I just think the whole debate is a little overthought. The dude is comparing it to Soviet loyalty pledges…no, I personally don’t think it gets to that level. From the school’s perspective, it’s simple: they don’t want to hire professors who are going to be grading based on their biases and prejudices. They don’t want math professors who are like my calculus professor who told the whole class his preference on boob sizes. Gee, I wonder if that guy graded men differently than women? A DEI statement is like a bare minimum pulse check to make sure professors aren’t going to get the school sued for discrimination. I can perhaps be convinced to agree with the idea that college bureaucracy has spiraled out of control. That said, the 100 people in Michigan’s DEI office is a ratio of one DEI administrator for every 500 students. Michigan is a huge school, those administrators may actually have a lot of work to do.

eesmith 3y ago
> The dude is comparing it to Soviet loyalty pledges That's ripe since the State of California has required since around 1950 that its employees - including university professors - sign an oath of allegiance. "I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter." This has long been found constitutional.
- fortran77 3y ago
  When I got a part time job teaching at a local community college, I was presented with this oath to sign. (This was pre-Internet). I told them that I had never read the CA State constitution. I signed it anyway, and then went to the library to find it and read it. It's 100+ pages long. I can be pretty sore that the majorty of people who signed this oath never read it. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=CONS&tocTitle=+California+Constitution+-+CONS https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xh...