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== Description == == Description ==
Some of economist ]'s writings ('']'') suggest that academicians and intellectuals have an undeserved "]" and face fewer ]s than other professions against speaking outside their expertise. Sowell cites ], ] and ] as paradigmatic examples of this phenomenon. Though respected for their contributions to various academic disciplines (respectively mathematics, linguistics, and literature), the three men became known to the general public only by making often-controversial and disputed pronouncements on politics and public policy that would not be regarded as noteworthy if offered by a medical doctor or skilled ].<ref>Sowell, T. (2009). Intellectuals and Society. Basic Books, pp. 16-18</ref>



⚫ Critics of academic elitism argue that highly-educated people tend to form an isolated social group whose views tend to be overrepresented amongst ], ]s, and other members of the ] who often draw their salary and funding from taxpayers. Economist Dan Klein shows that the worldwide top-35 economics departments pull 76 percent of their faculty from their own graduates. He argues that the academic culture is pyramidal, not ], and resembles a closed and genteel social circle. Meanwhile, academia draws on resources from taxpayers, foundations, endowments, and tuition payers, and it judges the social service delivered. The result is a self-organizing and self-validating circle.<ref>
Economist ]'s '']'' claims that intellectuals have an undeserved "]" and face fewer ]s than other professions against speaking outside their expertise. In Sowell's estimation, academics respected for their contributions in their particular discipline often become known to the general public by commenting on policy issues outside that discipline.

⚫ Critics of academic elitism{{specify}} argue that highly-educated people tend to form an isolated social group whose views tend to be overrepresented among ], ]s, and other members of the ] who often draw their salary and funding from taxpayers. Economist Dan Klein shows that the worldwide top-35 economics departments pull 76 percent of their faculty from their own graduates. He argues that the academic culture is pyramidal, not ], and resembles a closed and genteel social circle. Meanwhile, he claims, academia draws on resources from taxpayers, foundations, endowments, and tuition payers, and it judges the social service delivered{{clarify}}. The result is a self-organizing and self-validating circle.<ref>
{{cite journal | ref=harv {{cite journal | ref=harv
| last=Klein | first=Daniel B. | last=Klein | first=Daniel B.
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</ref> </ref>


Another criticism is that universities tend more to ] than intellectualism per se; for example, to protect their positions and prestige, academicians may over-complicate problems and express them in obscure language (e.g., the ], a hoax by physicist ] attempting to show that American humanities professors invoke complicated, pseudoscientific jargon to support their political positions). Another criticism{{by whom}} is that universities tend more to ] than intellectualism per se; for example, academicians may be charged with over-complicating problems and expressing them in obscure language (e.g., the ], ]).


Academic elitism suggests that in highly competitive academic environments only those individuals who have engaged in ] are deemed to have anything worthwhile to say, or do. It suggests that individuals who have not engaged in such scholarship are ]. Steven Zhang of the '']'' has described the graduates of elite schools, especially those in the ], of having a "smug sense of success" because they believe "gaining entrance into the Ivy League is an accomplishment unto itself."<ref> Academic elitism suggests{{clarify}} that in highly competitive academic environments only those individuals who have engaged in ] are deemed to have anything worthwhile to say, or do{{attribution needed}}. It suggests{{clarify}} that individuals who have not engaged in such scholarship are ]. Steven Zhang of the '']'' has described the graduates of elite schools, especially those in the ], as having a "smug sense of success" because "It makes us believe gaining entrance into the Ivy League is an accomplishment unto itself."<ref>
http://cornellsun.com/node/46778 http://cornellsun.com/node/46778
</ref> </ref>

Revision as of 07:58, 20 August 2013

Academic elitism is the criticism that academia or academicians are prone to elitism, or that certain experts or intellectuals propose ideas based more on support from academic colleagues than on real world experience. The term "ivory tower" often carries with it an implicit critique of academic elitism.

Description

Economist Thomas Sowell's Intellectuals and Society claims that intellectuals have an undeserved "halo effect" and face fewer disincentives than other professions against speaking outside their expertise. In Sowell's estimation, academics respected for their contributions in their particular discipline often become known to the general public by commenting on policy issues outside that discipline.

Critics of academic elitism argue that highly-educated people tend to form an isolated social group whose views tend to be overrepresented among journalists, professors, and other members of the intelligentsia who often draw their salary and funding from taxpayers. Economist Dan Klein shows that the worldwide top-35 economics departments pull 76 percent of their faculty from their own graduates. He argues that the academic culture is pyramidal, not polycentric, and resembles a closed and genteel social circle. Meanwhile, he claims, academia draws on resources from taxpayers, foundations, endowments, and tuition payers, and it judges the social service delivered. The result is a self-organizing and self-validating circle.

Another criticism is that universities tend more to pseudo-intellectualism than intellectualism per se; for example, academicians may be charged with over-complicating problems and expressing them in obscure language (e.g., the Sokal affair, obscurantism).

Academic elitism suggests that in highly competitive academic environments only those individuals who have engaged in scholarship are deemed to have anything worthwhile to say, or do. It suggests that individuals who have not engaged in such scholarship are cranks. Steven Zhang of the Cornell Daily Sun has described the graduates of elite schools, especially those in the Ivy League, as having a "smug sense of success" because "It makes us believe gaining entrance into the Ivy League is an accomplishment unto itself."

See also

References

  1. Klein, Daniel B. (2005). "The Ph.D. Circle in Academic Economics". Econ Journal Watch. 2 (1): 133–148. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  2. http://cornellsun.com/node/46778

Further reading

  • Trow, Martin, "Problems in the Transition from Elite to Mass Education," Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, 1973 .
  • Papers about Academic elitism
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