On Monday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that it will no longer require prospective faculty to submit a “diversity statement.”
According to The New York Times, in their statements, candidates were required to explain how they would enhance the university’s commitment to diversity. These statements were generally a page long.
However, MIT President Sally Kornbluth explained this week that this method did not work.
“My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to M.I.T. and to make sure they thrive once here,” Dr. Kornbluth said in a statement. “We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work.”
According to the New York Post, several high-profile schools require these kinds of statements from prospective faculty members (via NYP):
Part CV and part DEI loyalty oath, diversity statements have become common practice in higher ed in recent years, compelling faculty or research applicants to bloviate over two to three pages about their commitment to “advance excellence in diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging as a teacher and a researcher in higher education,” as Harvard describes its own diversity statement requirement.
Similar descriptions can be found on the homepage of just about any prominent school in the US as top universities scramble to loudly proclaim their commitment to the practice.
Princeton peddles its diversity statement requirement as “an opportunity for you to highlight the ways you would advance an institution’s DEI work,” while Columbia University furnishes job seekers with a four-page guide to help applicants “showcase your understanding and activities” around diversity and inclusion.
The Times noted that this move comes as MIT has been under scrutiny for its handling of antisemitism. In recent weeks, the school has struggled to handle pro-Hamas encampments on school grounds.