Say what you want about social justice advocates – they’ve been clever to seize upon education as a way to bring their vision of utopia to the fore. Anyone who remains skeptical can look at a current job posting at Dalhousie University. It seeks an assistant professor in agronomy, and explicitly excludes non-minority, white men from applying.
The posting cites “employment equity” as its reason for being “restricted to candidates who self-identify” as a woman, a visible racial minority, someone with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity, or a disability.
This criterion mirrors a wider trend across academic institutions today, eager to incorporate the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mission. For example, it has become commonplace for academics applying to faculty positions to include a statement detailing how they will achieve DEI in their teaching and research. This simultaneously serves as an effective way to filter out applicants who disagree with this mandate.
Individuals will also be encouraged to fill out a checklist (I kid you not) of all the different minority groups to which they belong, even though this information has zero relevance to their capabilities as an academic.
Though possibly well-intentioned, the way to account for discrimination of the past is not to actively enforce discrimination now. Doing so will provoke a backlash against women and minority groups, and a hiring process that downplays merit will raise the unfortunate question in colleagues’ – and students’ – minds of whether a new hire deserves to be there.
At best, these policies evoke pity; at worst, they fuel resentment. Research has shown that pro-diversity messages can lead dominant groups to feel threatened, so one can only imagine what outright discrimination will achieve.
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♥ Wife, homeschooling mom, conspiracy analyst ♥
