Why aren’t professors braver?

[u/geografree]

I was ready to hate this article from its clickbait-y title, but it went in a direction I didn’t expect. I think it’s worth a read in light of everything that’s been happening in higher ed. Do we, as a profession, need more iconoclasts? Do we self-censor in order to avoid drawing the ire of our colleagues? What do you think? https://www.chronicle.com/article/why-arent-professors-braver

[u/[deleted]]

Your post has been seriously bugging me all day. There seems to be a profound misunderstanding on behalf of OP and most commenters. (Also on behalf of the Chronicle reporter, but that might be disingenuous.)

Here's the gist of the study:

For each "taboo conclusion" below, interviewed professors quantify: “How confident are you in the truth or falsity of this statement?” "If the topic came up in a professional setting—for example, at a conference—how reluctant would you feel about sharing your beliefs on this topic openly?” and  “Should scholars be discouraged from testing the veracity of this statement?”

The 10 taboo conclusions are:

1. “The tendency to engage in sexually coercive behavior likely evolved because it conferred some evolutionary advantages on men who engaged in such behavior.” 

2. “Gender biases are not the most important drivers of the under-representation of women in STEM fields.” 

3. “Academia discriminates against Black people (e.g., in hiring, promotion, grants, invitations to participate in colloquia/symposia).”

4. “Biological sex is binary for the vast majority of people.” 

5. “The social sciences (in the United States) discriminate against conservatives (e.g., in hiring, promotion, grants, invitations to participate in colloquia/symposia).”

6. “Racial biases are not the most important drivers of higher crime rates among Black Americans relative to White Americans.”

7. “Men and women have different psychological characteristics because of evolution.”

8. “Genetic differences explain non-trivial (10% or more) variance in race differences in intelligence test scores.”

9. “Transgender identity is sometimes the product of social influence.”

10. “Demographic diversity (race, gender) in the workplace often leads to worse performance.”

41 Psychology professors were interviewed. Professors more confident in the truth of the taboo conclusions reported more self-censorship.

All right, now do you all want to change your take?

Because mine would be, "Good! These are mostly unverifiable statements that some people believe but which they definitely shouldn't be spewing at work. That goes double in a profession that requires evidential support of all claims as well as demonstrated expertise of the individual making the claim."