《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》雙語:美國大學(xué)教師招聘要求多樣性聲明?(Part 1)
原文標(biāo)題:
Universities
New testaments
Mandatory diversity statements are taking hold of academia
大學(xué)
新約
學(xué)術(shù)界正在強(qiáng)制要求多樣性聲明
American universities are hiring based on devotion to diversity
美國大學(xué)的招聘要求多樣性方面的貢獻(xiàn)
[Paragraph 1]
THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley is currently advertising for a
“director of cell culture, fly food, media prep and on-call glass
washing facilities”.
加州大學(xué)伯克利分校目前正在招聘一名主管,主要負(fù)責(zé)“細(xì)胞培養(yǎng)、蒼蠅食品、媒體準(zhǔn)備、玻璃設(shè)施清洗隨叫隨到”等事項(xiàng)。
Applicants
need an advanced degree and a decade of research experience, and must
submit a CV, a cover letter and a research statement.
求職者人需要高學(xué)歷和十年的研究經(jīng)驗(yàn),要求提交簡歷、求職信和研究報(bào)告。
They must also send in a statement on their contributions to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
求職者還必須提供一份他們對促進(jìn)多樣性、公平性和包容性方面所做貢獻(xiàn)的聲明。
Seemingly everyone (this director, the next head of preservation for the library, anyone who dreams of a tenured
professorship) must file a statement outlining their understanding of
diversity, their past contributions to increasing it and their plans
“for advancing equity and inclusion” if hired.
似乎每個(gè)人(主管,下一任圖書館館長,想要成為終身教授的人)都必須提交一份聲明,闡述他們對多樣性的理解,他們曾經(jīng)對增加多樣性所做的貢獻(xiàn),以及聘用后如何“促進(jìn)公平性和包容性”。

[Paragraph 2]
Not long ago, such statements were exotic and of marginal importance. Now they are de rigueur across most of the University of California system for hiring and tenure decisions.
不久前,這樣的聲明顯得奇怪但無關(guān)緊要?,F(xiàn)在,大部分加州的大學(xué)系統(tǒng)在招聘和做任期決定時(shí),聲明已成約定俗成的條件。
Studies claim that as many as one in five faculty jobs across America require them.
研究表明,全美五分之一的教職工崗位需要多樣性聲明。
And government agencies that fund scientific research are starting to make grants to labs conditional upon their diversity metrics and plans.
一些政府機(jī)構(gòu)開始為符合多樣性條件的實(shí)驗(yàn)室提供資助。
[Paragraph 3]
Proponents
argue that such things are needed to advance concepts normally invoked
by abbreviation: diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), sometimes with
“belonging” appended (DEIB), or “justice” (DEIJ), or else rearranged in a
jollier anagram (JEDI).
支持者認(rèn)為需要用字母縮寫來推進(jìn)這些概念:多樣性、公平性和包容性(DEI),有時(shí)加上“歸屬性”(DEIB)或“正義性”(DEIJ),或者以一種更有趣的字母組合(JEDI)出現(xiàn)。
Critics—typically those with tenure rather than those seeking it—think mandatory statements constitute political litmus tests, devalue merit, open a back door for affirmative action, violate academic freedom and infringe on First Amendment protections for public universities.
批評者(通常是那些擁有終身教職的人士,而不是可能擁有終身教職的人士)認(rèn)為,強(qiáng)制性聲明是政治試金石,重此抑彼,為“平權(quán)行動(dòng)”開了一扇后門,侵犯了學(xué)術(shù)自由,并違背了《第一修正案》對公立大學(xué)的保護(hù)條例。
“There are a lot of similarities between these diversity statements as they’re being applied now and how loyalty oaths
[which once required faculty to attest that they were not communis]
worked,” says Keith Whittington, a political scientist at Princeton
University.
普林斯頓大學(xué)政治學(xué)家基思·惠廷頓表示:“現(xiàn)在這些多樣性聲明的應(yīng)用與以前的忠誠宣誓(曾經(jīng)要求教職員工證明他們不是共產(chǎn))有很多相似之處。”
Who is right?
孰是孰非?
[Paragraph 4]
Advocates see no conflict between DEI and academic excellence.
支持者認(rèn)為DEI和學(xué)術(shù)成就之間沒有沖突。
“It’s
hard to imagine being a good teacher if you don’t know how to actively
engage all students,” says Sharon Inkelas, an associate vice-provost at Berkeley.
伯克利分校的副教務(wù)長莎倫·因凱拉斯說:“如果你不知道如何令所有學(xué)生積極參與課堂,你很難成為一名好老師。”
Nor
is it a matter of political belief. These statements “are descriptions
of things that people have done that have enabled them to be successful
in the classroom,” says Professor Inkelas.
因凱拉斯教授說:這也不是政治信仰的問題。這些聲明是“人們所做事情的描述,而且這些事情有利于課堂教學(xué)?!?br>
A referendum has already outlawed affirmative action in California, so state institutions cannot give preferential treatment on the basis of race or sex.
加州的公民投票已判定“平權(quán)行動(dòng)”是非法行動(dòng),因此加州任何機(jī)構(gòu)不能基于種族或性別給予優(yōu)惠待遇。
A separate law bans employers from “controlling or directing” the political activities of their employees.
另一項(xiàng)法律禁止雇主“控制或指揮”員工的政治活動(dòng)。
[Paragraph 5]
“There
is no litmus test attached to diversity statements. All that it’s
asking is, ‘What are you going to be able to add to our campus? How are
you going to deal with the diverse student body and faculty?’” says
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley’s law school and a well-known First
Amendment scholar.
伯克利法學(xué)院院長、著名的《第一修正案》學(xué)者埃爾溫·切梅林斯基說:“多樣性聲明不是政治的試金石。它所要求的是--你能為我們學(xué)校做出什么貢獻(xiàn)?你將如何與多元化的學(xué)生群體和教師群體相處?’”
“The
absence of lawsuits so far, despite threats, is an indication that the
diversity statements are legal. They don’t violate the First Amendment.”
“盡管收到威脅,但迄今為止沒有發(fā)生一樁訴訟案件,這表明多樣性聲明是合法的,它們沒有違反《第一修正案》。”
[Paragraph 6]
It is hard to know whether DEI statements merely meet their goals or stray into political filtering.
多樣性聲明是否能達(dá)到最初目的,還是充當(dāng)了政治過濾器,我們不得而知。
Davidson
College, in North Carolina, asked prospective computer-science staff to
write about their “potential to contribute to our commitment to equity
and anti-racism”—a cause fervently embraced by the left and despised by the right.
北卡羅來納州的戴維森學(xué)院對未來的計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)教職人員提出要求:寫一篇關(guān)于“我為公平和反種族主義做貢獻(xiàn)的潛力”的聲明——這件事受到左派的熱烈歡迎,而右派則嗤之以鼻。
Berkeley has distributed guidance on how search committees ought to evaluate diversity statements.
伯克利已經(jīng)發(fā)布了搜索委員會應(yīng)該如何評估多樣性聲明的指南。
They
say that any candidate who does not discuss gender or race must be
awarded low marks. The same goes for any earnest classical liberal who
“explicitly states the intention to ignore the varying backgrounds of
their students and ‘treat everyone the same’.”
他們說,任何不討論性別或種族的候選人都會被打低分。任何堅(jiān)定的古典自由主義者(明確表示有意忽視學(xué)生的不同背景,且一視同仁)也會被打低分。
[Paragraph 7]
In 2018 Berkeley launched a “cluster search” for five faculty to teach biological sciences.
2018年,伯克利啟動(dòng)了一項(xiàng)“聚類搜索”來招聘5名生物科學(xué)教師。
From
894 applications, it created a longlist based on diversity statements
alone, eliminating 680 candidates without examining their research or
other credentials.
收到了894份求職申請,在沒有檢查研究成果或其他證書的情況下,僅憑多樣性聲明一項(xiàng)就得出初選名單,淘汰了680名候選人。
This
“yielded significant increases in URM [underrepresented minority]
candidates advanced to shortlist consideration”, a university memo
reported.
根據(jù)一份大學(xué)備忘錄,這“導(dǎo)致URM(代表率過低的少數(shù)群體)進(jìn)入決選名單的人數(shù)大幅增加”。
(恭喜讀完,本篇英語詞匯量645/1269左右)
原文出自:2023年2月11日《The Economist》United States版塊。
精讀筆記來源于:自由英語之路
本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】(來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò))
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI):多樣性,公平性與包容性。多樣性是指存在差異,包括種族,性別,宗教,性取向,種族,國籍,社會經(jīng)濟(jì)地位,語言,(殘疾)能力,年齡,宗教信仰或政治觀點(diǎn)。在該領(lǐng)域的從業(yè)人員中,現(xiàn)在和現(xiàn)在仍然人數(shù)不足,在整個(gè)社會中被邊緣化。公平性正在促進(jìn)程序,過程和機(jī)構(gòu)或系統(tǒng)在資源分配中的正義,公正和公平。解決公平問題需要了解我們社會中結(jié)果差異的根本原因。包容性是確保多元化的人真正感受到和/或受到歡迎的結(jié)果。當(dāng)您,您的機(jī)構(gòu)和您的計(jì)劃真正吸引所有人時(shí),才能實(shí)現(xiàn)包容性結(jié)果。在某種程度上,不同的個(gè)人能夠充分參與組織或組織內(nèi)的決策過程和發(fā)展機(jī)會。
終身教授制度:大部分"長聘在軌(Tenure-Track)"的起點(diǎn)都是助理教授。受聘為Tenure-Track助理教授后,要利用7年的預(yù)備期證明自己在科研、教學(xué)、服務(wù)方面的素質(zhì)和能力,能夠達(dá)到終身教授的水平。7年之后,如果通過終身教授的評審,就成為了Tenured
Faculty,相當(dāng)于和學(xué)校簽定了終身合同。之后,除非發(fā)生違法或?qū)W科取消等極端事件,學(xué)校不能解聘已經(jīng)獲得終身教授教職的教師。相反,在規(guī)定時(shí)間內(nèi),如果達(dá)不到終身教授的要求,在預(yù)備期的第6年底之前,就會收到學(xué)校信函,通知該教師沒有獲得終身教授教職,一年之內(nèi)就得離開學(xué)校。美國高校的終身教授制,吸引了世界各地的頂尖人才。究其原因,是教師拿到終身教授之后,可以說不僅獲得了終身的工作保障,還獲得了真正的學(xué)術(shù)自由,今后可以不受任何約束地根據(jù)自己的規(guī)劃安排長遠(yuǎn)的職業(yè)發(fā)展,這在美國社會是一個(gè)非常令人羨慕的職業(yè)成就。從職位的穩(wěn)定性來說,只有聯(lián)邦法官才可以與之相比。
平權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)(Affirmative Action,直譯肯定性行動(dòng))是1960年代伴隨非裔美國人民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)、婦女解放運(yùn)動(dòng)、性革命等一連串民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)興起的一項(xiàng)社會運(yùn)動(dòng),1965年由民主黨的美國總統(tǒng)林登·約翰遜發(fā)起,主張?jiān)诖髮W(xué)招生、政府招標(biāo)等情況下照顧如少數(shù)民族、女性等弱勢群體,是一個(gè)特定時(shí)期“種族優(yōu)先”的法律,保障他們不會在教育及工作方面受到歧視及不公平對待。這樣的“優(yōu)先照顧”,讓白人學(xué)生認(rèn)為受到了“反向歧視”。
《第一修正案》:美國新聞自由的法律根源為美國憲法第一修正案:"國會不得制定關(guān)于下列事項(xiàng)的法律:確立國教或禁止信教自由;剝奪言論自由或出版自由;或剝奪人民和平集會和向政府請?jiān)干煸┑臋?quán)利。"前十條修正案于1789年9月25日提出,1791年12月15日批準(zhǔn),被稱為"權(quán)利法案"。其中有關(guān)新聞言論自由的這一條被列為第一修正案。
古典自由主義是一種政治和經(jīng)濟(jì)意識形態(tài),主張通過限制政府的權(quán)力來保護(hù)公民的自由和經(jīng)濟(jì)的自由,認(rèn)為不應(yīng)該為了某些人所謂的集體利益而犧牲個(gè)體利益?;谝环N信念,即通過遵守自然法則和個(gè)人主義才能最好地實(shí)現(xiàn)社會進(jìn)步,強(qiáng)調(diào)個(gè)人經(jīng)濟(jì)自由和法治下的公民自由,它是對工業(yè)革命和城市化帶來的社會、經(jīng)濟(jì)和政治變革的回應(yīng)。該術(shù)語起源于
19 世紀(jì)初期,經(jīng)常與現(xiàn)代社會自由主義的哲學(xué)形成鮮明對比。
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【重點(diǎn)句子】(3?個(gè))
Studies claim that as many as one in five faculty jobs across America require them.
研究表明,全美五分之一的教職工崗位需要多樣性聲明。
A
referendum has already outlawed affirmative action in California, so
state institutions cannot give preferential treatment on the basis of
race or sex.
加州的公民投票已判定“平權(quán)行動(dòng)”是非法行動(dòng),因此加州任何機(jī)構(gòu)不能基于種族或性別給予優(yōu)惠待遇。
It is hard to know whether DEI statements merely meet their goals or stray into political filtering.
多樣性聲明是否能達(dá)到最初目的,還是充當(dāng)了政治過濾器,我們不得而知。
