Daniel R. Page

Today I gave a talk with Heterodox Academy Canada on my research surrounding preferential/restricted hiring in STEM, DIE pledges, intellectual autonomy, and academic culling. Despite the gravity of the situation with Canadian Universities, we managed to have a fairly productive discussion!

Here are some of my results I discussed:
1 & 2) At least 80% of Computer Science Departments in Canada on Maclean's CS University Ranking 2024 list or the U15 engage in preferential/restricted hiring or DIE pledges. This result follows from my 5+ years of monitoring CS-Can job ads.

3) Credit to Burgess, I specialized his data set released a few months ago to study CRC searches between July - Dec 2023. I extended his data set to further categorize and determine if DIE pledges are required. Even in "hard" STEM fields Burgess's finding nearly matches (~55%).

Most concerning to me is the fact in general ~66-76% of all the searches required DIE pledges, and in Computer Science it was between 80-100% of them! DIE pledges are implicit in many types of granting applications in Canada, but the institutions themselves are doing this!

You can find more of my results in my latest slides and on this page here: https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/

My data sets are all public, share this information with others. Many more innocent scholars will be targeted unfairly for doing their job properly, and institutions will continue to betray the trust they are given if this continues. If academics today even in "hard" STEM fields face threats to intellectual autonomy from institutions, and cannot carry out their fiduciary duty as academics, what are the things we call "universities" in Canada? We must demand better both of academics and universities.

SAFS Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship

Presently in wider society, there are concerns surrounding so-called Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE) initiatives in our public universities. In this shortened talk, Dr. Page first will discuss DIE policies and related events as exclusionary mechanisms in our public universities from the perspective of academic hiring, and provide definitions for preferential/restricted hiring and DIE pledges. As part of this discussion, Dr. Page will provide concrete examples of DIE pledges at various hiring levels in Canadian Computer Science. Then, Dr. Page will present preliminary results based on a/his novel data set and what it indicates about the prevalence of DIE pledges in Canadian Computer Science Departments. What does this mean for intellectual autonomy for the next generation of academics and all those in our universities, and assuring that academics are indeed carrying out their fiduciary duty as professors/academics?

Short Biography:
Dr. Daniel Page is a theoretical computer scientist from Sunnyside, Manitoba, Canada. His primary interests are in Theoretical Computer Science, with a specific focus at the crossroads of approximation algorithms, scheduling, and parameterized complexity. Dr. Page also creates affordable, high-quality Computer Science educational multimedia, and investigates academic freedom and standards issues in Computer Science across Canada.

Dr. Daniel Page most recently was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science at New College of Florida, and has many years of experience teaching both inside and outside of public universities in Canada.

Event Information:
https://heterodoxacademy.org/events/inclusion-through-exclusion-a-grave-upheaval-to-stem-in-canadian-universities/

https://heterodoxacademy.org/events/inclusion-through-exclusion-a-grave-upheaval-to-stem-in-canadian-universities/

Inclusion Through Exclusion: STEM in Canadian Universities Join HxCanada for a virtual talk on DIE policies and related events as exclusionary mechanisms in public universities from the perspective of academic hiring.

If you are a member of the Canadian branch of Heterodox Academy, I will be giving a talk at 9AM PST over Zoom on August 30, 2024. This is based on a longer talk I gave for the Annual Academic Meeting of The SAFS Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship in May 2024.

Title: Inclusion Through Exclusion: A Grave Upheaval to STEM in Canadian Universities.

Abstract: Presently in wider society, there are concerns surrounding so-called Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE) initiatives in our public universities. In this shortened talk, Dr. Page first will discuss DIE policies and related events as exclusionary mechanisms in our public universities from the perspective of academic hiring, and provide definitions for preferential/restricted hiring and DIE pledges. As part of this discussion, Dr. Page will provide concrete examples of DIE pledges at various hiring levels in Canadian Computer Science. Then, Dr. Page will present preliminary results based on a his novel data set and what it indicates about the prevalence of DIE pledges in Canadian Computer Science Departments. What does this mean for intellectual autonomy for the next generation of academics and all those in our universities, and assuring that academics are indeed carrying out their fiduciary duty as professors/academics?

See my statement to University of Manitoba on its intentions to "formalize freedom of expression guidelines."

Daniel Page on LinkedIn: UM to formalize freedom of expression guidelines I am happy to see this statement [the words] as alum and a Manitoban, but believe it is nothing but hollow words at this time as there's no evidence as far as…

With the popularity of AI and many other topics from computation, we should be deeply worried about our Computer Science Departments and trust we give our public institutions. Things are not well in many of our universities in Canada.

From my recent talk at the SAFS Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship Academic Meeting 2024.
https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/Inclusion_Through_Exclusion__A_Grave_Upheaval_to_STEM_in_Canadian_Universities.pdf

I believe as the trustworthiness and value of post-secondary institutions begins to undergo scrutiny [especially public universities], the general public needs to learn more and understand what is happening within universities more.
More paths need to exist, we need improvements.

Interested in learning more Discrete Maths (the mayonaise/mustard, as I'd say) to better understand Computer Science, come join the fun with us with this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN-ShipRKQ0gN2ufyyX8xDjnYZIELD29o

Everybody have a beautiful day!

Mathematics for CS Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

Cary Nelson, past president of the AAUP, says DEI [DIE], politicized academic disciplines, and enforced political conformity are corrupting higher education:

-“Public confidence will drop substantially if they know more about what the university is…actually devoted to.”

-On DEI statements [DIE pledges]: “Once it becomes a requirement, it’s a form of tyranny that obliterates academic freedom.”

-On academic disciplines: “Some are not devoted to the search for the truth. They don’t share that basic principle. They are largely devoted to the imposition of unified political belief.”

I discuss a lot of these ideas with my research on academic culling and DIE pledges, you can find my preliminary results in Canadian Computer Science here: https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/

https://youtu.be/Q48HoHKxkZc?feature=shared

SAFS Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship

Where is the University Going? Presented by the University of AustinAmna Khalid, Carleton CollegeNadine Strossen, New York Law SchoolJacob Howland, University of AustinCary Nelson, Univers...

"Funding agencies should abolish DEI requirements and focus instead on funding proposals based on their merits. Strengthening K−12 education and merit-based practices is the path toward equal opportunity, fair distribution of resources, and the best science to the benefit of all"

Frontiers | Politicizing science funding undermines public trust in science, academic freedom, and the unbiased generation of knowledge This commentary documents how federal funding agencies are changing the criteria by which they distribute taxpayer money intended for scientific research. In...

Why is it that in our Canadian institutions:
The people that call themselves anti-racists, behave as racists?
The people that call for decolonization, engage in their own flavour of colonization?
Why especially do those that preach "inclusion" engage explicitly in exclusion?

I have another job ad to report upon. The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at University of Lethbridge published a job advertisement requiring a DIE pledge. The job advertisement requires a "statement that demonstrates commitment to EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion)". The ad includes the following phrase as well: "... applications from equity seeking groups are encouraged." implying it may be that the search may engage in preferential hiring [but it is not explicit enough to be put in my data set to be classified as such]. The advertisement also asserts, without substance, the following: "The university recognizes that diversity enriches our campus and our community and is fundamental to excellence in teaching, learning, and research. The university as a whole embraces equity, diversity and inclusion as core values to be truly inclusive of the communities of which we are a part, and this requires ongoing intentional and systemic action."

Source: https://cscan-infocan.ca/job/university-of-lethbridge-lethbridge-ab-168-assistant-professor-in-computer-science/

This is now in my data set (under Google Sheet): https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/

Many Computer Science Departments across Canada are engaging in corrupt, anti-academic practices, and this must be halted.

"Results from 24 separate studies across 21 articles revealed that taking and reviewing handwritten notes leads to higher achievement (Hedges’ g = 0.248; p < 0.001), even though typing notes benefits note-taking volume (Hedges’ g = 0.919; p < 0.001), among college students. Furthermore, our binomial effect size display shows that taking handwritten lecture notes is expected to produce higher course grades than typing notes among college students. We conclude that handwritten notes are more useful for studying and committing to memory than typed notes, ultimately contributing to higher achievement for college students."

Typed Versus Handwritten Lecture Notes and College Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis - Educational Psychology Review Many college students prefer to type their lecture notes rather than write them by hand. As a result, the number of experimental and quasi-experimental studies comparing these two note-taking mediums has flourished over the past decade. The present meta-analytic research sought to uncover trends in....

https://thehub.ca/2024/07/10/zachary-patterson-canada-must-reclaim-its-wayward-universities-heres-how/

Zachary Patterson: Canada must reclaim its wayward universities. Here’s how Pro-Palestinian supporters take part in a sit-in at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa on Monday, April 29, 2024. Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press.

I have two CS academic job ads to report from University of Saskatchewan that (are likely re-posted):
(Ad 1) "Without Term Lecturer" - Requires a DIE pledge. Ad 1 requires a DIE pledge, and makes assertions about how the "principles" of EDI/DIE are fundamental to excellence. It is encouraged candidates hold particular activist views as well.
(Ad 2) Asst Prof in HCI - Engages in preferential hiring and requires a DIE pledge. Ad 2 is a preferential hiring ad for a tenure-track job in Computer Science, ideally in the area of HCI. It contains similar wording to Ad 2, also requiring a DIE pledge, but "applications from Indigenous persons and women are especially encouraged and will be given preference."

Note: Both on their Department website and the CS-Can ad, the start date was not updated [and is similar to the previous posting, which I documented in the past]. This ad was re-posted after July 1, 2024.

Sources:
https://cscan-infocan.ca/job/department-of-computer-science-university-of-saskatchewan-saskatoon-saskatchewan-168-without-term-lecturer-computer-science-2/

https://cscan-infocan.ca/job/department-of-computer-science-university-of-saskatchewan-saskatoon-saskatchewan-168-assistant-professor-human-computer-interaction-computer-science-2/

These ads have been added to my data set, which can be located here [see Google Sheet]:

https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/

I have been documenting DIE pledges and preferential/restricted hiring over CS-Can now for 5+ years in Computer Science. These practices are deeply anti-academic, in my opinion are wrongfully discriminatory, and wrong! Any CS Department engaging in these corrupt practices needs to stop.

Happy Canada Day Everybody!

June 2024 updates!

Updates -June 2024 | Daniel Page Get more from Daniel Page on Patreon

"Considering (i) the significant costs of EDI, (ii) weak evidence for any benefits combined with known harms, (iii) that EDI uses flawed metrics with no end goal and will likely only expand, and (iv) diminishing public trust due to EDI policies like racial discrimination, we recommend abolishing EDI from the Tri-Council agencies."

www.ourcommons.ca

A long-term solution to the DIE statement/pledge issue is not creating/replacing it with new and/or ambiguous statements (e.g. "service statements"), it is by eliminating them and not bringing in more ambiguous statements. Nothing new [of academic merit] is gained from them. Remove them entirely.

It is corrosive to the academic enterprise and as a compulsive activity should be abandoned, as it is a threat to intellectual autonomy and academic freedom.

Prepare for the great number of Canadian universities preparing to celebrate how "inclusive" they are, meanwhile blatantly excluding innocent scholars from participation at their schools. These institutions need to get out of this ideological race, and return to having standards.

Has any public Canadian university ever apologized for their massively exclusionary and shakily-grounded COVID-19 policies that led to the denial of many students education [and of those that did, quality education] and the expulsion of innocent academics from them?

Can anybody name a single one?

Slides from my talk at the SAFS Annual Meeting are now available [I'll be posting them on the DIE pledge research page when I can, still travelling].https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/Inclusion_Through_Exclusion__A_Grave_Upheaval_to_STEM_in_Canadian_Universities.pdf

You can locate my data set here: https://pagewizardgames.com/diepledge/

Inclusion Through Exclusion: The Culling of Academics in Canadian Universities We document the increasing practice of ideological litmus tests in the form of DIE pledges in Canadian Computer Science academic job advertisements. On this page we present preliminary results, information, and resources.

I will be in London Ontario this weekend, to deliver an invited talk at the Annual Academic Meeting of The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.

Talk title: "Inclusion Through Exclusion: A Grave Upheaval to STEM in Canadian Universities"

Annual Meeting – SAFS Annual Meeting Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship SAFS 2024 Academic General Meeting Friday Gunnery BallroomDelta Hotels London Armories325 Dundas StreetLondon, Ontario Saturday First Floor, Room 3345Somerville HouseWestern UniversityLondon, Ontario Western University Hall Location: Click....

Anon article on DIE pledge ad I documented back in November. I personally think the author is being way too charitable to the intentions behind these advertisements (given this is involving a CRC chair position). Why the DIE pledge also then, on top of the restrictions? Surely that can't be "well-intentioned" too, right? Where they hid that requirement behind a login system?

Identity-specific jobs adverts are discriminatory. Why can’t we say so? While well intentioned, reserving positions for under-represented groups only takes us further away from the colour-blind ideal, says an academic

https://www.patreon.com/posts/will-be-giving-101717525?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Will be giving a talk May 2024 at SAFS General Meeting | Daniel Page Get more from Daniel Page on Patreon

Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship - YouTube Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

Happy Easter to you and your family! Have a beautiful day!