Just as DEI is being scaled back in American higher education, the UK is doubling down on it, much to the peril of academic freedom.
After a lengthy consultation period, conveniently timed to report after the election which brought Labour into office, guidance from Research England (which doles out over £2 billion in funding per year) has been released. It stipulates that its Research Excellence Framework (REF) will now grade university departments on their share of women and non-whites, promotion rates by race and sex, and how well they are training their staff in DEI ideology. All of which has nothing to do with research excellence.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a euphemism for woke cultural socialism. “Diversity and Equity” is about achieving equal outcomes and representation for minority identity groups through anti-white/male discrimination while “Inclusion” refers to censoring speech that offends the most sensitive members of such groups. When a staff member posts on social media against biological males in female sports, they are now more likely to be threatened or forced out for undermining “inclusion” and “diversity”, damaging their department’s precious reputation.
Continue reading the entire piece here at UnHerd (paywall)
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Eric Kaufmann is professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London and an adjunct fellow of the Manhattan Institute.
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