\doc\web\99\05\das.txtDelaware poll finds most faculty opposed to race preferences Date sent: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 09:36:27 -0500 To: "ClearingHouse" From: Education Consumers ClearingHouse Subject: [education-consumers] College faculty may be less PC than suspected Send reply to: Education Consumers ClearingHouse ===================================================================== The following are conclusions drawn from a Roper survey of faculty at U of Delaware. Clearly race and gender preferences are supported only by a minority of professors. In my opinion, faculty attitudes at Delaware are representative of faculty attitudes at the vast majority of colleges. The relevant campus policies are adopted and maintained because everyone is afraid of opposing them. They parallel the emphasis on equity, diversity, and social justice in K-12. Anyone who objects is trashed as racist, sexist, etc. The harm that such policies might do to the academic priorities of an institution cannot be discussed on most campuses--regardless of impact. If policymakers want to know how it is that both K-12 and higher education never seem to improve no matter how much money is spent, they should look at the priorities represented by these policies. Clearly, social engineering has come to take precedence over academic quality control and campus administrators--folks who are paid premium salaries to make the tough calls--have not only acceded to the demands of social activists, they have made a virtue of necessity and led the parade. If the funding were available, it would certainly be interesting to see the results of more such surveys at campuses around the country. John ******************************************* Roper Survey sponsored by the Delaware Association of Scholars Conclusions The Delaware Association of Scholars (DAS) survey reveals pervasive opposition among fulltime faculty to UD granting race, sex, and ethnic preferences. Not only does the vast majority of faculty believe that UD should not grant preferences, but it also stands ready to vote for policies banning them. This opposition pervades virtually all groups examined, regardless of college or political orientation. Faculty more often favor race and sex preferences in student admissions than in faculty employment, but the survey revealed no pockets of strong support for either practice. A clear majority of groups in all colleges reports that UD actually does grant preferences, usually as the result of informal rather than formal policies and procedures. Nonetheless, over a quarter believe that the preferences are supported by formal institutional policy. There is a pervasive perception among individual faculty, then, that UD is carrying out policies that its faculty disapprove. The AAUP's encouragement of such policies clearly contravenes the wishes of its members. The opposition to preferences goes much deeper than mere partisanship because even liberals tend to oppose them. Moreover, the opposition to preferences is accompained by substantial faculty concern that the preferences are damaging the institution. The high consistency of faculty perceptions across different colleges and political orientations suggests that preferences may, in fact, be routinely granted at UD. It also suggests that they may be damaging the institution. Both possibilities warrant serious investigation. Further Information Questions may be directed to Linda S. Gottfredson, DAS President. (302) 831-1650 das-req@udel.edu c/o DAS, Box 10, 105 Trabant Student Center, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 © URL=http://www.udel.edu/DAS/survey98f/survey.html ===================================================================== EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE networking and information for parents and taxpayers on the internet Subscriptions & Archives: http://education-consumers.com or You are currently subscribed to education-consumers as: arthurhu@halcyon.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to leave-education-consumers-989462S@lists.dundee.net ===================================================================== For less mail, click on the following link and choose 1) a daily digest, 2) a daily list of subjects, or 3) no mail (read postings on Web) http://lists.dundee.net/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=education-consumers For more help & info: http://www.lyris.com/help or