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One of the "world's most influential psychologists" called for an equity audit of all professors in universities in order to ensure that grades were distributed evenly among racial groups in any given course in an article published in Psychology Today.
Roy F. Baumeister, Ph.D., is one of the world’s most influential and most cited psychologists with expertise in "human morality," according to his biography. He has published over 700 scientific works, including over 40 books. He previously worked for Florida State University, and now is affiliated with the University of Queensland in Australia.
"I say this not only to address this social problem of justice but also to alert my many friends in academia to get ahead of the curve on this," he said on May 10.
He argued colleges can use a supposedly "objective" measure to detect racism by comparing grades of Blacks and Whites which would determine if "a professor has routinely given higher grades to White students than Black students."
Roy F. Baumeister is an American social psychologist (Adobe Stock | Florida State University)
"Structural racism is often invisible, so one cannot be sure how and when it operates. It is inferred from results. So why not focus on the most important results, namely, grading disparities?" Dr. Baumeister said. "Such information would be a powerful tool in the battle against racism in universities."
Baumeister also argued the information showing systemic racism should be publicized and would, in effect, shame professors into becoming anti-racist.
"[T]he anti-racist bureaucracy may pounce," he said about the data that would be uncovered. It would also help Black students avoid supposedly "racist" professors.
"If you are a racist professor reading this, I have no sympathy for you. I hope the coming round of publicity will expose you and shame you into reforming your practices to stop oppressing innocent young people."
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"The argument for publicizing such data is compelling. If we believe in systemic racism, we must do what we can to enable young African-American students to make their way through this hostile environment. Supremely valuable to them would be information about how to avoid the worst traps and pitfalls, such as apparently racist professors who may mark them down based simply on their race."
The professor said that racism appears in ‘invisible’ ways. (iStock)
The professor told Fox News Digital that "professors should be ready for [the humiliation] to happen. I think it is coming. I think that is where the bureaucracy is heading. Innocent heads may roll. The blog is designed to alert non-racist professors to the danger of being unfairly labeled as racist."
The psychology professor said there are numerous ways systemic racism shows up in classrooms, some which may be "more subtle." For example, it could be "course content [and] microaggressions during lectures."
"I can imagine that there are some hidden powerful forces seeking to conceal ongoing racist practices within many universities even while other parts of the same institutions strive to advance equality and social justice," he said.
The professor discussed how systemic racism shows up in the classroom. (Adobe Stock)
"It would be a simple matter to compute, for each professor and course, the average grades given to White and Black students, respectively. If a professor has routinely given higher grades to White students than Black students, the anti-racist bureaucracy may pounce."
In a comment from the psychologist after publication, Baumeister rebutted the notion that he supported publishing racial disparities in grades but rather was warning that it would soon happen.
"Recently several people have told me that universities are already computing these disparities, though they remain behind the scene. My own opinions about this are hardly relevant, but for the record, I’m an old school type who still holds the now out-of-fashion values of upholding high standards and treating everyone the same," he told Fox News Digital.
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This article was updated with additional remarks from Baumeister.