The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced Monday that it will no longer require candidates applying for faculty positions to write a diversity statement. The statement has been criticized by conservatives and free speech advocates as a form of forced ideological conformity.
Candidates were asked to explain how they would strengthen the university's commitment to diversity in a typically one-page statement.
Such statements are embedded not only in corporate life but also in faculty recruitment at many elite public and private universities. Scholars have defended them as necessary for determining whether faculty can reach an increasingly diverse student body.
In announcing the change, MIT President Sally Kornbluth said diversity statements are a form of forced speech and do not work.
“My goal is to maximize human talent, bring the best talent to MIT, and ensure they thrive here,” Dr. Kornbluth said in a statement. “We can create an inclusive environment in many ways, but forced speech violates freedom of expression and will not work.”
MIT and Dr. Kornbluth have come under intense scrutiny from House Republicans over the university's handling of anti-Semitism accusations. In December, Dr. Kornbluth testified at a Congressional hearing on anti-Semitism along with two other presidents, Claudine Gay of Harvard University and Elizabeth McGill of the University of Pennsylvania, which led to Dr. Gay and Ms. McGill's This led to his resignation. And MIT, like many other campuses, is struggling to deal with an increasingly violent pro-Palestinian camp.
Diversity statements have long been opposed by conservatives and many academics as forcing some kind of ideological conformity. MIT's decision to eliminate them may embolden other universities to reconsider. A 2021 study by the American Enterprise Institute found that highly selective colleges are more likely to require such statements than less selective colleges.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is leading the charge against a measure that would require students to immerse themselves in science and technology courses, but which some say could dilute the rigor of their education. I've done it. After the pandemic, the school became one of the first universities to reinstate standardized testing in admissions, saying it helps predict academic success.
The practice of reviewing candidates' diversity statements, sometimes before considering their academic background, has been attacked as particularly corrosive in scientific fields where maintaining academic rigor in research projects can actually be a matter of life and death. It has been. Dr. Kornbluth is a research cell biologist.
According to her statement, Dr. Kornbluth will remove the diversity statement with the support of other senior officials, including the provost, provost, all six deans, and the vice provost for equity and inclusion. It is said that he made a move.
It remains to be seen whether a diversity statement is required for positions beyond faculty, or whether this is the first step in dismantling MIT's broader diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructure. It wasn't obvious.
Now that the Supreme Court has banned race-based admissions, diversity statements are important for advocates to create a more welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds and ethnicities and bring a variety of life experiences into the classroom. It has become a tool.
But the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program has come under fire from free speech advocates and some academics as well as conservatives who say it stifles open inquiry. .
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression states on its website that “race, gender, and related issues are treated as if they were unquestionable, and that professors who challenge them are virtually incompetent. “As such, it requires teachers to endorse or adopt a particular position,” the Foundation for Individual Rights Expression says on its website.