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On diversity, equity and inclusion in the age of journal lists.

Writer's picture: Jason ThatcherJason Thatcher

I was recently asked how we can promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in an era where journal lists drive hiring and promotion decisions.


The answer is simple.


You can’t.


Lists are constructed by groups vested in the status quo.


The journals on most lists reflect the preferences of either faculty at elite schools or senior faculty who have published in those outlets.


That doesn’t mean the journals lack merit.


The journals that appear on lists, on average, publish good papers.


Not always innovative papers.


But good papers.


These "elite faculty" prefer these journals for a good reason.


While journal lists signal where good work appears to people outside of a discipline, they also affirm ‘academic elites’ power in their discipline.


However.


Since journal lists are not designed to disrupt the current hierarchy, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion will likely require universities to go beyond journal lists when hiring.


Why?


Bc elite unis tend to be dominated by men, often disproportionately white men, who have defined a relatively narrow range of acceptable journals, topics, and methods as being the "state of the art" of their discipline.


As a result, there is a disconnect with the broader, more diverse, academic community.


You find more faculty who are women and/or from historically disadvantaged communities working outside of elite uni’s.


Many of these faculty are not interested in publishing in "elite-dominated" journal lists - they want to study topics or use methods that don’t fit the elite journal script.


Even if these faculty had an interest, their access to resources or time needed to chase a high-volume publish-to-top journals strategy is limited.


Beyond that, evidence suggests elite journals demonstrate bias against faculty not from top schools. (https://lnkd.in/e44hpYRq)


So what to do?


First, recognize that bias exists & constrains opportunities.


Take some time to listen & think about how to support young faculty.


Second, rather than telling rising faculty where to publish (which doubles as a code word for what to publish), take some time to listen and learn where they want to publish and what they want to publish.


Give young faculty some control.


Third, stop leaning on lists as a proxy for quality. Read the papers.


Fourth, expand on what journals and artifacts matter.


Modern scholarship goes beyond traditional top journals or "paper-based" articles.


We need to value more intellectual outlets and artifacts, whether a new piece of software or a successful blog.


Finally, we need to recognize what journal lists are and are not.


They offer a loose proxy for paper quality - but are not definitive.


Other proxies for quality exist! Grants, industry talks, and more.


If we want a robust academy that reflects the demography of our students, we need to go beyond what established elites want and become more open-minded!


Best of luck!



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