Summarised by Centrist
Jonathan Barth’s article “It’s Time to Upend the Modern University” addresses the systemic issues plaguing American universities (and perhaps universities throughout the western world).
Liberals and Democrats outnumber conservatives and Republicans, amongst the faculty, by huge numbers. The political and ideological uniformity within academia, where administrators and faculty members lean overwhelmingly left, is creating an echo chamber that stifles intellectual diversity.
This homogeneity is particularly pronounced in the humanities and social sciences, but Barth suggests relatively more diverse political views are found in science, tech, engineering, mathematics (STEM) fields .
According to Barth, there is a growing disillusionment with higher education among Americans, as reflected in declining confidence levels reported by Gallup.
He says “only 19 percent of Republicans and only 36 percent of Americans have confidence in higher education (as recently as 2015, the number was 56 and 57 percent respectively).”
The solution, according to Barth, includes reducing the over-reliance on college degrees by employers, creating alternative educational institutions, and implementing practical policies such as educational transparency, inclusive faculty searches, and interdisciplinary academic structures.
