Headline is misleading:
"MIT bans mandatory DEI in faculty hiring"
Here is the original headling:
"MIT bans mandatory DEI statements in faculty hiring"
IOW, they are banning DEI statements from faculty as part of the hiring process:
The decision marks an inflection point in the battle over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education. Since at least the late 2010s, diversity statements have been ubiquitous in faculty hiring, sometimes carrying serious weight in the selection process. As one dean at Emory University put it while describing her approach to hiring, "Diversity statement, then dossier."
MIT embraced the diversity statement trend. In late 2023, the university's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering sought an assistant professor "in fields from fundamental nuclear science to practical applications of nuclear technology in energy, security and quantum engineering". Applicants were required to submit "a statement regarding their views on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, including past and current contributions as well as their vision and plans for the future in these areas".
unherd.com
It seems that these statements have become formulaic and disliked by many:
It remains to be seen whether individual departments will continue training their graduate students how to fill out these loyalty oaths when they seek academic positions elsewhere. One would think ChatGPT could do a bang-up job.
whyevolutionistrue.com
Last month, Harvard Law School's Randall Kennedy--a self-described "scholar on the Left committed to struggles for social justice"--described the general sentiment: "It would be hard to overstate the degree to which many academics at Harvard and beyond feel intense and growing resentment against the DEI enterprise because of features that are perhaps most evident in the demand for DEI statements."
unherd.com
The president of MIT says that inclusivity is still a goal, and hopefully it will be (think the women featured in the movie Hidden Figures and the high school students recently featured on 60 Minutes who solved a 2000 year old math problem*):
In a statement provided to me via email, president Kornbluth notes: "We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don't work."
unherd.com
*How two high school students solved a 2,000-year-old math puzzle
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