But inside the lab, Chetty and his colleagues have not always practiced what their research preaches, several former employees say. When hiring for their prestigious “pre-doctoral fellowship” program, for instance, the lab uses a rubric that explicitly favors students from the very colleges that its own research has called out for reinforcing elitist systems. Opportunity Insights didn’t have its first Black pre-doc until 2021. Seven former employees who spoke to The Chronicle about their experiences were bothered by what they saw as contradictions between the lab’s practices and its stated values.
After landing the fellowship, some employees said they were also disturbed to find a culture of overwork that left them fried but feeling forced to impress in order to secure a letter of recommendation to a top Ph.D. program. For some employees, it took a toll on their health. Harvard even reviewed the lab following claims of unsustainable working hours.
That is excerpted from the (gated) Chronicle of Higher Education.
Of course I am with Chetty here, noting I have no idea how good their personnel selections are (though a priori I would be surprised if they were not very good). In any case, once again you can see the tension between the meritocratic elements of the top schools and the rhetoric they claim to live by. This is reaching an absurd point. “Culture of overwork”? C’mon people, no one has to join up. You don’t think Chetty “overworks” very very hard? Isn’t that exactly the opportunity on tap, admittedly not for everyone?
How about “feeling forced to impress in order to secure a letter of recommendation to a top Ph.D. program”? I am in fact opposed to this whole pre-doc thing, but I don’t blame Chetty and co. “Forced to impress”? On what basis are good letters supposed to be handed out? Are we not also “forced to impress” the people we want to date and marry? Do start-ups with?
Someone needs to “go the full Ayn Rand” on this whole thing. Part of the real shame is that Chetty and co. are in no real position to do that.
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