People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate academia, data shows

Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by usednet on Monday July 11, 2022 @12:52AM (#32052347)

And all of this contributes to extremely low intellectual diversity at Ivy Leagues. I have the pleasure of frequently interacting with Harvard students and it is consistently true that they are always unremarkable individuals. These schools simply breed a managerial class that is capable of grinding hard and following orders.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by frognumber on Monday July 11, 2022 @12:57AM (#32052375)

I've been affiliated with MIT in one way or another for more than a quarter-century. What's been astounding is the change in faculty.

Historically, MIT faculty were nerds into neat tech problems.

New MIT faculty are slick politicians with an increasing sleazy Enron-style vibe. That's true of MIT leadership as well.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by ramesh31 on Monday July 11, 2022 @09:47AM (#32056062)

>Historically, MIT faculty were nerds into neat tech problems.

Computer Science used to be for nerds that were into neat tech problems. Now it's just seen the same as business/law/finance/whatever. And accordingly, we now have a deluge of CS graduates that want nothing to do with tech and simply move into management as fast as possible.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by sudosysgen on Monday July 11, 2022 @01:06AM (#32052431)

Do you know of some place where there are still nerds into neat tech problems?

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by slt2021 on Monday July 11, 2022 @01:41AM (#32052637)

Less popular but still hardcore places like Carnegie Mellon, Caltech, some state schools like Ohio State, UMich come to mind. Just stay away from woke ivy league

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by lotsofpulp on Monday July 11, 2022 @07:45AM (#32054819)

FYi, MIT is not Ivy League.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by moralestapia on Monday July 11, 2022 @07:46AM (#32054830)

Caltech's still the real deal.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by a4a4a4a4 on Monday July 11, 2022 @07:20AM (#32054640)

You need to leave the US and look at European Unis. EPFL, ETH Zürich, Delft, TÜ Berlin/Munich.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by aj7 on Monday July 11, 2022 @02:41AM (#32052973)

I’ve suspected this. There was always some seed corn of this type at MIT, even in the old days. I got SB, 1968-72. Hacker was a new word, and nerd was often spelled with a “u.” It would have been unthinkable to try to prosecute Jonathan Swartz then.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by fsckboy on Monday July 11, 2022 @04:30AM (#32053623)

Aaron Swartz you mean.

though Jonathan Schwartz did get metoo'd (not prosecuted) and kicked off WNYC

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by aj7 on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @08:43AM (#32069022)

Sorry, you are of course right.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by abeppu on Monday July 11, 2022 @01:54AM (#32052699)

Can you elaborate on what "Enron-style vibe" means when describing university faculty?

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by frognumber on Monday July 11, 2022 @03:06PM (#32060340)

- Academic fraud

- Clever financial schemes and complex conflicts-of-interest

- Incredible salesmanship relative to the amount of substance

- ... and so on.

I've seen criminal activity there too (which I can't elaborate on), but I suspect the Institute is waiting for an Enron-style collapse. It will be a soft landing. The endowment is obscene at this point; the Institute can weather a lot.

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by sumedh on Monday July 11, 2022 @06:59AM (#32054511)

People who make decisions using powerpoint slides?

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by 93po on Monday July 11, 2022 @08:44AM (#32055420)

form over substance

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Re:People from elite backgrounds increasingly dominate acade... by forum_ghost on Monday July 11, 2022 @01:07AM (#32052445)

has been reflected in the student body as well in some ways? tia

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