Are University’s Still Universities When ‘Diversity’ Trumps Merit?

It has recently been reported that the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has removed the word “merit” from its hiring process. In a radio interview, the University’s Vice-Chancellor Margaret Sheil, communicated her concern that the university’s hiring strategy could be biased.

Hence, the university will seek to appoint diverse individuals, including those from Indigenous, multicultural, and LGBT backgrounds, implying that the goal of “diversity” trumps “merit.” Admittedly, the concept of merit itself is indeterminate—an empty vessel, the meaning of which has to be filled in by the university’s leadership team.

As such, it could be argued that the university, rather than ditching merit, has simply embraced a competing version of merit that is radically different, and hostile, to the traditional concept.

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