Given enough time, all bad ideas are eventually shown to be exactly what they are. The issue, of course, is how much collateral damage is created before someone either admits that they were wrong or stands up and declares that it is time to put an end to the madness. And members of the faculty in the University of California (UC) system have decided that DEI just isn’t working, at least in terms of math.
One at least sees how the champions of equity can co-opt art, literature, and politics for their purposes. One may not like it, and it may be wrong, but one can understand the blueprint and pathways to ruining students’ educations in pursuit of the popular thing at the moment. But subjects like math, chemistry, astronomy, and geology should all be immune to the siren song of equity by their very nature. Not that those in the “degreed class” haven’t tried. And lo and behold, someone noticed that the equity approach to math was not quite getting the job done.
The UC faculty members are speaking out against a policy dating back to 2020, which lowered the requirements for math in order to include more “marginalized” people. Of course, dropping the standards for things like math hardly equips a student to succeed in life, much less in their chosen field. According to Campus reform, the policy was intended “to expand course offerings beyond the traditional sequence of math courses that may lead students into the ‘race to calculus,’ to be more inclusive of new and innovative advanced math courses (e.g., data science), and to address equity issues.”
That piece is based on an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It cites a letter from the UC Santa Barbara Physics Department which states in part, “Giving high-school students the idea that it is OK to skimp on their math education is very dangerous. Such students will have their career choices severely curtailed, at an early age, and perhaps without even realizing it.”
A UC Santa Cruz faculty member wrote, “We are concerned that under-represented groups, women, and those attending under-resourced schools may be steered into alternative math pathways that are promoted as being friendlier or more engaging but in fact offer less preparation.” The article also quotes a 2022 letter from black faculty members of the UC system that states:
“Introduction to Data Science … [makes] claims that they specifically support learning for women and minorities, which are not only baseless, but fail to appreciate that they actually do the opposite and harm students from such groups by steering them away from being prepared for STEM majors.”
DEI, even in regards to STEM, still has its defenders. I would hazard a guess that this is due to the fact that DEI is highly lucrative, and the people who run the world want it to remain popular. But dumbing down a curriculum or requirements to include more people of color, women, “trans women,” or whoever the aggrieved party of the day may be, means that these people leave college without the knowledge they came for. And for these people to succeed, the expectations of society as a whole must also be lowered. This has the potential to ground all ships. Moreover, it is a reminder that to the Left, a person’s value is still determined by the color of their skin.
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