The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said on Monday that it would no longer require candidates applying for faculty positions to write diversity statements, which have been denounced by conservatives and free-speech advocates as forcing a kind of ideological conformity.
In their statements, generally a page-long, candidates were required to explain how they would enhance the university’s commitment to diversity.
Such statements have become enshrined in faculty hiring at many elite public and private universities, as well as in corporate life.
Academics have defended them as necessary in judging whether a faculty member can reach out to an increasingly diverse student body.
In announcing the change, M.I.T.’s president, Sally Kornbluth, said diversity statements constituted a form of compelled speech that do not work.
Persons:
’, Sally Kornbluth
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology