Pursuit of Tenure Suppresses Truth

[kaysixteen]

McWhorter is not awful.   He's a good, not great, linguist (some of the things I  have heard him say that touch on classical languages are not spot on, for instance), and he has an opinion on public affairs/ current events issues that should be  listened to.   But one must not go overboard in relying on his opinion here...

[Hibush]

Pursuit of tenure does compromise truth, mostly through p-hacking.

You forgot HARKing!

Thanks for highlighting that far more common catastrophe.

[mahagonny]

And as always, I'd love to see some evidence that this is actually a problem for people, whether TT or non-TT. 

More answers to this question. You asked; I'm giving. I'll try not to be incoherent.

I just got off the phone with a colleague, Albert, in another department who is just a few years older than me but not ready to retire. Nevertheless, he is calling it quits after this semester. I am covering his course while he 'recuperates from a brief illness.' He let me know he is very tired of being ostracized for his political views. His department is the only one that is named as an ally in the recent communications from the diversity and inclusion mafia team which announces their new 'series' (not much pressure to my chair? I hope they can resist). Now that Biden's in and it's Black History Month they are in bonanza mode. Although he's not overly upfront over politics, I suspect Albert really can't fly under the radar too much because he's received outstanding businessman and such awards from conservative organizations. This premature attrition is a drag for me because I was 'reaching out' to Albert in the hopes of forming an informal conservative coalition.

[Sun_Worshiper]

And as always, I'd love to see some evidence that this is actually a problem for people, whether TT or non-TT. 

More answers to this question. You asked; I'm giving. I'll try not to be incoherent.

I just got off the phone with a colleague, Albert, in another department who is just a few years older than me but not ready to retire. Nevertheless, he is calling it quits after this semester. I am covering his course while he 'recuperates from a brief illness.' He let me know he is very tired of being ostracized for his political views. His department is the only one that is named as an ally in the recent communications from the diversity and inclusion mafia team which announces their new 'series' (not much pressure to my chair? I hope they can resist). Now that Biden's in and it's Black History Month they are in bonanza mode. Although he's not overly upfront over politics, I suspect Albert really can't fly under the radar too much because he's received outstanding businessman and such awards from conservative organizations. This premature attrition is a drag for me because I was 'reaching out' to Albert in the hopes of forming an informal conservative coalition.

So a guy you know is upset about how people perceive his politics? Ok. Is he actually in danger of being fired for his politics? What does this have to do with tenure?

Look I'm sure some people think their political views are unwelcome. At my place, there are MAGA students who would be unhappy if I noted that their dear leader tried to upend American democracy, and there are surely woke students who would be mad if I insisted that there are only two genders. The questions are: (1) Would this get anyone fired? (2) Does tenure have anything to do with this conversation? There is no evidence that I am aware of to support the idea that tenure track faculty are systematically being denied tenure because they said something off color, which is apparently the point of this thread.* Someone can do a systematic study to try to provide this evidence, and maybe somebody already has, but the "evidence" that you are offering (unsubstantiated claims by some guy on youtube or your friend Albert) doesn't cut it.

* As noted above, the only case of this that I am aware of is Norman Finkelstein, who claims he was denied for criticizing Israel, and certainly it is the case that Alan Dershowitz (conservative hero) tried to get him denied for that reason.

[mahagonny]

And as always, I'd love to see some evidence that this is actually a problem for people, whether TT or non-TT. 

More answers to this question. You asked; I'm giving. I'll try not to be incoherent.

I just got off the phone with a colleague, Albert, in another department who is just a few years older than me but not ready to retire. Nevertheless, he is calling it quits after this semester. I am covering his course while he 'recuperates from a brief illness.' He let me know he is very tired of being ostracized for his political views. His department is the only one that is named as an ally in the recent communications from the diversity and inclusion mafia team which announces their new 'series' (not much pressure to my chair? I hope they can resist). Now that Biden's in and it's Black History Month they are in bonanza mode. Although he's not overly upfront over politics, I suspect Albert really can't fly under the radar too much because he's received outstanding businessman and such awards from conservative organizations. This premature attrition is a drag for me because I was 'reaching out' to Albert in the hopes of forming an informal conservative coalition.

So a guy you know is upset about how people perceive his politics? Ok. Is he actually in danger of being fired for his politics? What does this have to do with tenure?

Being full time his schedule gets filled, but he's designed a lot of courses that have been taken from him and given to other less qualified faculty, some of whom have then asked him to 'share' his class preps with them. I don't know that he is in danger of being fired, but if he is fired, then we'll know that he was in danger of being fired prior to getting fired. What is clear is that he is unwelcome, is retiring earlier than he would have preferred, to the pleasure of many in the department, because he is not adding anything to their militancy, and several have shouted him down for his failure to appreciate the urgent need for antiracism movement and such.  And his departure reinforces  the thing that you and I have agreed is unhealthy, the lack of political diversity in higher education.
The pre-tenure probation period is where academics get trained to suppress any views that don't blend with what is called liberalism today. And that's how academia consolidates and expands its liberal influence and how the democratic party keeps its stronghold there and in publishing.

[Sun_Worshiper]

And as always, I'd love to see some evidence that this is actually a problem for people, whether TT or non-TT. 

More answers to this question. You asked; I'm giving. I'll try not to be incoherent.

I just got off the phone with a colleague, Albert, in another department who is just a few years older than me but not ready to retire. Nevertheless, he is calling it quits after this semester. I am covering his course while he 'recuperates from a brief illness.' He let me know he is very tired of being ostracized for his political views. His department is the only one that is named as an ally in the recent communications from the diversity and inclusion mafia team which announces their new 'series' (not much pressure to my chair? I hope they can resist). Now that Biden's in and it's Black History Month they are in bonanza mode. Although he's not overly upfront over politics, I suspect Albert really can't fly under the radar too much because he's received outstanding businessman and such awards from conservative organizations. This premature attrition is a drag for me because I was 'reaching out' to Albert in the hopes of forming an informal conservative coalition.

So a guy you know is upset about how people perceive his politics? Ok. Is he actually in danger of being fired for his politics? What does this have to do with tenure?

Being full time his schedule gets filled, but he's designed a lot of courses that have been taken from him and given to other less qualified faculty, some of whom have then asked him to 'share' his class preps with them. I don't know that he is in danger of being fired, but if he is fired, then we'll know that he was in danger of being fired prior to getting fired. What is clear is that he is unwelcome, is retiring earlier than he would have preferred, to the pleasure of many in the department, because he is not adding anything to their militancy, and several have shouted him down for his failure to appreciate the urgent need for antiracism movement and such.  And his departure reinforces  the thing that you and I have agreed is unhealthy, the lack of political diversity in higher education.
The pre-tenure probation period is where academics get trained to suppress any views that don't blend with what is called liberalism today. And that's how academia consolidates and expands its liberal influence and how the democratic party keeps its stronghold there and in publishing.

The bolded is far from my own experience. Nobody in my department cares if I am liberal or conservative, as long as I publish well, get decent teaching evaluations, and don't create any headaches for the chair or dean. There are quite a few conservative students (perhaps a function of my geographic setting) and some conservative faculty as well. The university overlords mostly look for ways to cut costs and be "innovative," and as far as I can tell they don't care at all about progressive causes, let alone about whether some random faculty member is liberal or conservative.

As far as publishing, I write articles and review manuscripts for others, and the bias I see in publishing has little to do with political affiliation and much more to do with whether the p-value is below 0.05. Once in a while someone publishes something controversial and they get attacked on social media (which I usually think is bad practice on the part of tweeters) but these are rare instances as far as I can see.

The theory you put forward about tenure and the Democratic party is about the most convoluted explanation imaginable for why academics tend to vote for Democrats. I can think of about five much simpler explanations having to do with things like education level and the policy platform of each party. And the evidence you have provided is, frankly, so weak that it is not even worth responding to. There is also no logical reason you have offered as to why tenure track faculty would be incentivized to behave any differently than NTT, which deflates the whole purpose of this thread.

But since you seem firmly in your corner, despite lacking evidence or reason to support your contentions, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[mahagonny]

Being full time his schedule gets filled, but he's designed a lot of courses that have been taken from him and given to other less qualified faculty, some of whom have then asked him to 'share' his class preps with them. I don't know that he is in danger of being fired, but if he is fired, then we'll know that he was in danger of being fired prior to getting fired. What is clear is that he is unwelcome, is retiring earlier than he would have preferred, to the pleasure of many in the department, because he is not adding anything to their militancy, and several have shouted him down for his failure to appreciate the urgent need for antiracism movement and such.  And his departure reinforces  the thing that you and I have agreed is unhealthy, the lack of political diversity in higher education.
The pre-tenure probation period is where academics get trained to suppress any views that don't blend with what is called liberalism today. And that's how academia consolidates and expands its liberal influence and how the democratic party keeps its stronghold there and in publishing.

The bolded is far from my own experience.

If you began your career with liberal views then of course no one had to train you out of them. What I'm getting at is just because you had the opportunity to be yourself as long as your performance was solid that doesn't mean all others did or thought they did.

Nobody in my department cares if I am liberal or conservative, as long as I publish well, get decent teaching evaluations, and don't create any headaches for the chair or dean. There are quite a few conservative students (perhaps a function of my geographic setting) and some conservative faculty as well. The university overlords mostly look for ways to cut costs and be "innovative," and as far as I can tell they don't care at all about progressive causes, let alone about whether some random faculty member is liberal or conservative.

I don't think mine care about progressive causes either. That doesn't mean they're not aiding in the intolerant climate. What they care about is which was the wind blows. And it's blowing hard left so they're got all their sails out. They take their cues from the colleges who have the big antiracism stars. The trendsetters.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

You bet.

[jimbogumbo]

The bolded is far from my own experience. Nobody in my department cares if I am liberal or conservative, as long as I publish well, get decent teaching evaluations, and don't create any headaches for the chair or dean.

This was exactly the advice I was given as a new faculty member by my chair, only he phrased #3 as "maintain a low pissant quotient".

[mahagonny]

It might not be so exasperating having to work alongside people you don't agree with if they weren't also putting demands on you or baiting you. Our Diversity Team has a reading list for 'those who want to explore their journey as white people'. Or some such. Everything on the reading list, down to the last comma, is written by one or another notably liberal sociology, literature professor or historian. Not one John McWhorter (just published book #20), Glenn Loury, Tom Sowell, Shelby Steele, Jason Riley, Walter E. Williams. That's a lot of black thinkers to ignore. How is it antiracist to kick them out of the library? Jordan Peterson? Forget it.
White women writers, actresses and media talking heads, as Bill Maher points out, have been especially good at getting on the social justice bandwagon for blacks. Wait till they find out they're 'Karen.'
This morning Albert was telling me of a black colleague who told him angrily 'you have no idea what we have to endure being black in America.' This was the response he got for telling her he thought she was doing great and should be pleased. Thing is, they know who is he is. He's outed, he voted for Trump, Romney, McCain and Bush. He can't hide now. This didn't start with Trumpism, although he escalated it. Thing is too, you are supposed to be trying hard, every day, throughout the day, to understand what it might be like to be a black American, but you are racist if you think you might be close to learning it. You are also racist if you've given up on trying to figure out what it is like, which would be a logical decision for anyone who has tried hard with zero encouragement.
Surprise: there are also many blacks who are equally tired of the 'antiracism' chant. They're just busy living their lives, working, hanging out with the grandkids, reading, cooking etc. That bourgeois American stuff.

The bolded is far from my own experience. Nobody in my department cares if I am liberal or conservative, as long as I publish well, get decent teaching evaluations, and don't create any headaches for the chair or dean.

This was exactly the advice I was given as a new faculty member by my chair, only he phrased #3 as "maintain a low pissant quotient".

another liberal who found acceptance in academia. We're learning a lot here.

[jimbogumbo]

My third chair and I drank beer together for years at dive bars, played basketball and argued about politics. He was completely Fox News and Drudge. It's pretty clear you have no idea what is required to be accepted in a Math Department.

[mahagonny]

My third chair and I drank beer together for years at dive bars, played basketball and argued about politics. He was completely Fox News and Drudge. It's pretty clear you have no idea what is required to be accepted in a Math Department.

Math is different. You actually solve things, and people can see when you've done it. Cures a lot of ills.

[Parasaurolophus]

Replace the academic stuff with child abuse, and this is like reading a Qanon screed.

[mahagonny]

Replace the academic stuff with child abuse, and this is like reading a Qanon screed.

i'm not a statistician, but I'll do my best...some things can appear to produce a result that could have been the result of a conspiracy whereas they are more just a convergence of dynamics resulting in that community self selecting for certain types. And continuing that way, because the people who could change it are happy enough.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Replace the academic stuff with child abuse, and this is like reading a Qanon screed.

i'm not a statistician, but I'll do my best...some things can appear to produce a result that could have been the result of a conspiracy whereas they are more just a convergence of dynamics resulting in that community self selecting for certain types. And continuing that way, because the people who could change it are happy enough.

Obviously