Cracks in the ivory tower : the moral mess of higher education /

Cracks in the ivory tower : the moral mess of higher education /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Brennan, Jason, 1979- author.
Imprint:	New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019]
Description:	v, 322 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Education, Higher -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States. Education, Higher -- Economic aspects. Universities and colleges -- United States -- Sociological aspects. Education, Higher -- Economic aspects. Education, Higher -- Moral and ethical aspects. Universities and colleges -- Sociological aspects. United States.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12690968

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:	Magness, Phillip W., author.
ISBN:	9780190846282 0190846283 9780190846299 9780190846305 9780190932824
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"From a business ethics standpoint, the average university makes Enron look pretty good. Many people worry that there's rot in the heart of higher ed. Cracks in the Ivory Tower reveals the problems are even worse than everyone suspects. In this devastating exposé, Jason Brennan and Philip Magness reveal that the problem isn't that bad apples are spoiling the bunch. Instead, bad incentives make faculty, administrators, and students act badly. The problems are deep and pervasive. Most academic marketing and advertising is semi-fraudulent; colleges and individual departments regularly make high-falutin' promises they do not and cannot keep. Most students cheat a little and many cheat a lot. Professors and administrators waste students' money and time in order to line their own pockets. Students don't study and learn little. Faculty and students alike have every incentive to make teaching and learning secondary. Faculty grading and student course evaluations are bogus. Academics universally express commitments to high-minded ideals, such as serving the common good and promoting social justice. But beneath the moral veneer, faculty, students, and administrators are just looking out for themselves"--

Description
Summary:	Ideally, universities are centers of learning, in which great researchers dispassionately search for truth, no matter how unpopular those truths must be. The marketplace of ideas assures that truth wins out against bias and prejudice. Yet, many people worry that there's rot in the heart of the higher education business. In Cracks in the Ivory Tower, libertarian scholars Jason Brennan and Philip Magness reveal the problems are even worse than anyone suspects. Marshalling an array of data, they systematically show how contemporary American universities fall short of these ideals and how bad incentives make faculty, administrators, and students act unethically. While universities may at times excel at identifying and calling out injustice outside their gates, Brennan and Magness contend that individuals are primarily guided by self-interest at every level. They find that the problems are deep and pervasive: most academic marketing and advertising is semi-fraudulent; colleges and individual departments regularly make promises they do not and cannot keep; and most students cheat a little, while many cheat a lot. Trenchant and wide-ranging, they elucidate the many ways in which faculty and students alike have every incentive to make teaching and learning secondary.In this revealing exposé, Brennan and Magness bring to light many of the ethical problems universities, faculties, and students currently face. In turn, they reshape our understanding of how such high-powered institutions run their business.
Physical Description:	v, 322 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:	9780190846282 0190846283 9780190846299 9780190846305 9780190932824