If you’re a researcher with a degree and want to be an intern mathematics professor at California State University, Stanislaus, you better be prepared to “provide specific examples of how you have or plan to address variety in your training, study, and service”, because in its Department of Mathematics, a diversity statement is required for those who wish to teach.
How might one approach addressing variety through a place as an intern mathematics professor, according to Michael Bice, seat of the mathematics section at CSU Stanislaus, via email? There was no reply.
Additionally, Bice did not respond to The Fix’s investigation into whether a job candidate who was otherwise qualified may have a good probability of being hired if they did not promote diversity.
The mathematics section at CSU Stanislaus is not the only one to ask job candidates for university positions. In some academic institutions, DEI requirements have become standard, yet in STEM departments, where one’s political beliefs and ideas on social policy may seem unimportant.
Like CSU Stanislaus, Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, requires aspiring math professors to provide” a statement of how]they ] have supported diversity in]their ] work”, informing them in bold letters:” Incomplete applications will not be considered”.
The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina requires applicants to submit a” s]statement of teaching philosophy” that includes a discussion of how [they ] incorporate DEI in their ] job and/or teaching and learning.
As recently reported by The Fix, doctors who’d like to work as an “academic surgical oncologist/breast surgeon” at UC Davis must first describe their” ]c ] ontributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion” as well.
Similarly, last year when Illinois State University’s School of Biological Sciences was looking to hire an assistant professor of immunology, would- be research immunologists were informed ISU’s biology department” seek ]s ] candidates who use innovative molecular approaches to study any area of immunology”, but that regardless of their abilities as a researcher they were required to provide” a one- page statement describing]their ] interest in or effort toward furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion”.
In an email statement to The College Fix, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, a mathematics professor at UC Berkeley, wrote,” I think it is becoming clear to more and more people today that requiring diversity statements is a failed, yet if actually well- intentioned, experiment, as not only does it have many markings of a political litmus test, but in practice it likewise encourages cynicism and also reinforces the biases”.
Additionally, those who are considered for positions in STEM departments and are subject to these kinds of requirements can often find themselves unsure of how to cooperate with them.
In a story on the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s news page, Bill Blanken, a chemistry professor at Reedley College, is quoted as saying,” I’m a professor of chemistry. I’m a professor of chemistry.” How am I supposed to include DEI into my class instruction?'” before adding,” What’s the’ anti- discriminatory’ view on the nuclear mass of carbon”?
Additionally, dorian Abbot, a professor in the University of Chicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences, frequently argues that these kinds of requirements “restrict our ability to produce the best science” in part because “young scientists are selected partially using criteria other than scientific merit and potential.”
In a letter stating his intentions to leave the American Mathematical Society in 2023, Alexander Barvinok, a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan, expressed similar concerns.
” With grave concern, I see the growing use of DEI statements as a required component for job applications, in particular in mathematical sciences. In my opinion, it has an enormous corrosive effect on the math community and education in this country”, he wrote.
MORE: DEI takeover of STEM hinders ability’ to produce the best science,’ say scientists
IMAGE: Jaboo 2 Foto / Shutterstock
Follow The College Fix on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
