University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax’s defense of academic standards

Description:

A professor at Georgetown Law School was recently fired for remarks she made during a private zoom call about the academic performance of black students at Georgetown — raising several questions about the nature of and potential solutions to racial disparities in higher education. What are the root causes of racial disparities in schools? How much freedom should professors and administrators be given to explore explanations of disparities that move beyond institutional racism? Should objective measurements of performance — such as standardized tests — be abolished?

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax to discuss these issues and more. Professor Wax offers her defense of academic standards, arguing that movements seeking to deny the root causes of disparities and attribute all differences to structural racism are threatening the integrity of higher education institutions.

Resources:

Pursuing Diversity: From Education to Employment | Amy L. Wax | The University of Chicago Law Review

Georgetown professor fired for statements about black students | Elizabeth Redden | Inside Higher Ed

Show notes:

00:45 | How one Georgetown professor was fired for private comments made over a zoom call, and Professor Wax’s own experience with cancel culture in higher education

03:45 | Should objective measures of performance be treated as suspect?

13:00 | The unavoidably comparative nature of law school

15:40 | Which early interventions can policymakers make to reduce racial disparities in academic achievement?

20:00 | How the crisis of family breakdown cuts across racial and ethnic lines today

26:00 | How the narrowing "Overton window" of acceptable beliefs on the cause of racial disparities today threatens the quality of our educational institutions