SUPPORTING FREE SCIENCE
//A new journal article finds that the introduction of so-called gender mainstreaming at Swedish universities led to multiple violations of academic freedom. In addition, it may have increased an already existing bias against men’s research merits when hiring for the rank of professor, the study concludes.
//Controversies in recent years and months in the academic world (most recently involving Prof. Strumia at CERN) relating to gender issues have shown that there is much disagreement on what constitutes best practice with regard to gender equality. There seems even to be considerable disagreement between scientists of different disciplines as to fundamental aspects of gender identity.
We believe that the resolution of these disputes is not best promoted by discrediting and even discriminating against one side or the other.
For this reason we have asked a number of specialists if they would contribute to any future event debating STEM and gender (Prof. Amanda Diekmann, Prof. Alice Eagly, Prof. David C. Geary, Prof. Lee Jussim, inter alia), in order to facilitate an intellectually honest discussion.
We invite everyone (on both sides of the gender debate) to sign our petition and encourage the administration at CERN to invite these academics to their second Workshop on High Energy Theory and Gender.
Together, we can ensure neutrality, nuance and balance at CERN and in the whole scientific community.
Petition website: https://stemgender.com/
Lead authors
@ForStrumia; Anonymous author of Justice for Strumia, a rebuttal to the Particles for Justice letter.
Liberté Académique; @AcadFreedom
Tom Todd; Primary author of this petition to re-instate Professor Strumia.
Yi-Zen Chu; Associate Professor, Department of Physics, National Central University, Taiwan.
//(Source: academicrightswatch.com)
Academic Rights Watch marvels at a recent expert opinion from The University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm where male applicants for a professorship in Visual Communication are marginalized as a group because their art is considered masculine. We caution that the requirements of norm criticism and norm creativity on the part of the holder of the professorship in practice discriminate against men.
//Sweden’s prominent academic watchdog now joins leading academics in supporting Dr Peter Boghossian following Portland State University’s decision to open an investigation into research misconduct relating to the so-called Grievance Studies Affair. Boghossian and his colleagues submitted several hoax papers that successfully exposed weaknesses in the refereeing and publication practices of a number of journals focusing on race, gender, fat and sexuality studies.
Continue reading…
//(from Academic Rights Watch, Sweden)
Concluding, based on empirical findings, that there are differences in intelligence between individuals and groups is not permissible in educational research in Sweden, a country known for its egalitarian policies. Distinguished American professor Linda Gottfredson was originally invited to give a keynote lecture at a pedagogy conference in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. Yet, before the conference was about to take place in October this year, she received the message that she had been “uninvited” following protests from other researchers arguing that Gottfredson’s non-egalitarian conclusions contradict the organizer’s ethical standard.
//(from Academic Rights Watch, Sweden)
In order to prevent students from feeling discriminated the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University has decided to introduce a long list of gender controls in its education programme for the medical profession. One requirement states that teachers must use the “correct” gender terminology. These actions follow a student criticizing renowned professor Germund Hesslow’s course on biological sex differences for conflicting with the university’s discrimination and equal treatment policies. Hesslow has refused to comply with the new speech regulations, making his case parallel to the conflict between Jordan B. Peterson and Canada.
//(from Academic Rights Watch, Sweden)
Academic Rights Watch has received an audio recording suggesting that students at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm do not have the right to free speech, following a student being accused of harassment for sharing statistics about sex offenders among immigrants. Academic Rights Watch concludes that the university has failed to live up to constitutional and academic standards.
//(from Academic Rights Watch, Sweden)
If you are considering a future professorship at the prestigious Swedish University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, you should already start thinking about the political direction of your work. This is signalled by a recent appointment of a professorship in visual communication. One applicant, who is already a professor in the subject in Germany, was deemed not sufficiently “norm critical” for the position. ARW warns for the politicization resulting from the University’s policy to require norm criticism, in a narrow sense, from applicants to academic positions, which favors candidates with a certain political orientation.
//(from Academic Rights Watch, Sweden)
Can universities force teachers to use some texts rather than others in the reading list to their own courses? The question arises following the introduction of female author gender quotas at a department at Lund University, Sweden. At least 40% of the course literature should according to department rules be written by female authors. The policy has stunned international observers who are now questioning the health of Swedish academia.
//(from Academic Rights Watch, Sweden)
Swedish academics need support from the international community at a time when their academic rights and social function are being questioned in their home country. Therefore, Academic Rights Watch, a Swedish watchdog, now launches an international site with a selection of cases where academics have had their rights violated. The first posting addresses the case of Senior Lecturer Johan Lundberg at Stockholm University, who was denied promotion to full professor after his criticism of identity politics and postmodernism.
