Yeah I was thinking on the unconfirmed source that why would anyone exactly lie about that? Usually right wingers would want to make up random stuff that makes the left look crazy except this showcased sanity.
As I stated earlier 70% of all applicants in the UC's are thrown out solely based on this singlular statement.
I've run across this number before, but not with much context. Which ones are getting tossed? Is this comparable to how employers screen out lots of job applicants because the cover letter is the one place where they can't conceal poor language skills?
It doesn't seem difficult to put a decent statement together as long as you know how to write, and you could probably use an AI tool to generate ideas and help with composition even if you weren't familiar with the convention or any good at writing in English.
I've often wondered where this number came from too. In most schools, the filtering is done by individual departments - after all, what could a sociology prof say about a math phd's thesis? The diversity office doesnt get involved until much later in the stage, typically right before the final stage of in person interviews. Most diversity offices accept what the department picks unless everybody they pick is a white male and the applicant pool isnt.
Now its possible that the application process involves uploading assorted statements and somebody decided they didnt want to upload their DEI statement, but that would apply to all statements. For some reason, there are many who think they are qualified to be a professor - this includes undergrads who think they can be an English prof because they got an A in Eng 101. These typically just submit a resume and have multiple missing parts. Even pre-DEI days up to half of applications were like this.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/hypocrisy-mandatory-diversity-statements/674611/Cited article.
https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3608&context=lawreviewThis is not a toothless requirement. For instance, in a pilot program at UC
Berkeley in Life Sciences, all but 214 of 893 qualified applicants were
eliminated because their diversity statement did not meet the school’s “high
standard.”236 In other words, seventy-six percent of qualified applicants were
rejected without even considering their teaching skills, their publication history,
their potential for academic excellence, or their ability to contribute to their field.
As far as the university knew, these applicants could have well been the next
Albert Einstein or Jonas Salk, or they might have been outstanding and
innovative educators who would make a significant difference in students’ lives.
At UC Davis, in some departments over fifty percent of the applicants were
eliminated using this same methodology.237 In addition, the initial review of
diversity statements is increasingly being shif
Ok so it wasn't 70% of all applicants but it was true for atleast one division. It probably depends a lot on the exact division. A division filled with less wokes would probably not have as high as a 75% rejection rate but the fact it is 75% suggests it isn't a writing sample but actively used to suppress views they don't like in that particular division. The other option is they just use it to figure out the race of each applicant .