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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Complaints I've picked up from others:

1. Decline in student quality due to COVID but also longer term structural educational and admissions policies. Even at elite colleges, more kids are turning up without basic learning skills and knowledge that was once taken for granted.

2. Colleges are far more ideological places than they were 20 years ago. Many professors who don't rush to embrace the latest woke beliefs feel pressured to keep their mouths shut to get tenure, or ride it out till retirement. Some are afraid of their more extremist students and self-censor in classes and curb free discussions because it's just not worth the hassle any more.

3. Admin has exploded in size and influence and directly interfere with research and hiring and departmental matters. More micromanagement. And admin are fully signed up to DEI.

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I heartily disagree with most of this except the bloated admin. I've worked in both a public and a private R1 university as a tenure track/tenured professor for 18 years. I feel zero pressure to be ideological.  I would say some students can be vocal and strident, but it has little impact on me or how I do my work. It's comes with being 18-21. I like helping them develop and challenge their thinking at this key stage in life.    I'm not particularly conservative nor particularly progressive--I focus on where the evidence lies and the reasonableness of the argument and require my students to do the same.  I welcome whatever position they hold as long as they can articulate it clearly and justify it with logic and review of available evidence.

Overall, I think student quality and preparation has improved over the past 18 years (I have only taught at selective schools so I can't speak more broadly on this).  Many undergraduate students now are ready for work I would have given to early graduate students when I first started.  The only negative changes I've noticed in students is a decline in attention span and more mental health concerns (though the latter may just be increased transparency about these concerns).

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