Elite Professors

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Toyin Falola

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Jul 12, 2022, 6:50:11 PM7/12/22
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"Why do people from elite backgrounds dominate academia? A separate analysis suggests a simple answer: When many of a job’s rewards are non-monetary, that job tends to be done by people for whom cash is not a concern."


https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/08/dept-of-data-academia-elite/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3757d60%2F62cc8f79cfe8a21601e4a147%2F596ad3d29bbc0f403f85bcf1%2F26%2F53%2F62cc8f79cfe8a21601e4a147&wp_cu=aa309104386c529869fd12a376b7888c%7C3F822DF27C7E6D91E0530100007F03D2


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Harrow, Kenneth

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Jul 13, 2022, 8:23:34 AM7/13/22
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for a quick question a quick answer.
it depends onhow you define elite. it is more the case that elite--if that means rich--take the trajectory to business and control over corporations etc. than to the intellectual and scientific paths of universities. the people who wind up teaching are often 2nd or 3rd generation families, some from immigration or from poorer origins, for whom making maximum money matters less than advancing in culture or knowledge or science. the status of the university is a stand-in for intellectual capital, and that comes not from origins or community but from ability and hard work.
unfortunately, ability and hard work won't suffice if there are obstacles like racism or bigotry; but the story is not simply one side or another. you can come from very wealthy stock and never understand calculus, and poor students who shine get lots of scholarships to help them advance.

"advance" means to succeed in school and want to move up in the arts or sciences. those are the elites you are talking about.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2022 6:30 PM
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Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Elite Professors
 
"Why do people from elite backgrounds dominate academia? A separate analysis suggests a simple answer: When many of a job’s rewards are non-monetary, that job tends to be done by people for whom cash is not a concern."


https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/08/dept-of-data-academia-elite/?utm_campaign=wp_evening_edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_evening&carta-url=https*3A*2F*2Fs2.washingtonpost.com*2Fcar-ln-tr*2F3757d60*2F62cc8f79cfe8a21601e4a147*2F596ad3d29bbc0f403f85bcf1*2F26*2F53*2F62cc8f79cfe8a21601e4a147&wp_cu=aa309104386c529869fd12a376b7888c*7C3F822DF27C7E6D91E0530100007F03D2__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!HXCxUKc!0zL0sNO-Zw42fn0UwY6rV9ocFvRXlD4rMig7qlAjSHMBsH5fmKDtkJY3rlO2TCaEskd3rqbP-k_BWVa8Quj9btwcalI$


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Biko Agozino

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Jul 13, 2022, 3:04:54 PM7/13/22
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It is true that we are all petty bourgeois elites who are privileged to be university professors. But it is wrong to suggest that the influence is only from parents to children. We routinely mentor and encourage students from different backgrounds despite discrimination and exclusion.

Elite or not, the educational system is democratic enough to let excellence shine even from the children of peasants and market women. If we need more economists, then we should simply encourage more interest in the discipline. No matter what discipline, we must strive to develop new theories in order to be influential in academia. What are the original theories in any discipline developed by African scholars in recent times?

Where are the children of the elites in African universities? They tend to go into the family busyness of polootics while the professors are no longer regarded as members of the elites in a money-centered world.

BIKO


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Oluwatoyin Adepoju

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Jul 14, 2022, 6:43:58 AM7/14/22
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Biko,

I find your views on theory intriguing, this being the second time I'm encountering them on this group.

The earlier comment was thst lack of attention to theory dilutes the work of scholars, or something along those lines.

You are now referring to theory formation as fundamental for a scholar's impact on their field.

Could you share more light on these views?

Thanks

Toyin 

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Biko Agozino

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Jul 14, 2022, 5:15:25 PM7/14/22
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Oluwatoyin

Theory is prominent in every field of study. Name the top ten scholars in your field of interest and almost all of them are theorists. Africans tend to ask if na theory we go chop, given our many other urgent needs. We have our theorists but we need more in every field. Everyone should take up the challenge to develop original contributions to theory in different fields.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. Africa is bedeviled by violence and terrorism but most studies of these phenomena are empirical and positivistic. Not many have tried to think about the problem theoretically as part of the search for solutions. To have the book excerpted in journals before the publication simultaneously by publishers based in Africa and at a research university in the US, not to mention that the government announced a multibillion naira allocation of funds for the relevant project soon after the publication of the book. roughly indicate the relative influence that theoretically aware research can have:

Onwubiko
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