A major public university condemned one of its own former professors Monday after he said that many women are selected for engineering positions primarily on the basis of their gender.
“Half of the female STEM faculty in the US were hired over more qualified men,” Pedro Domingos, a retired computer science and engineering professor who has garnered more than 55,000 citations to his published works, according to Google Scholar, posted to Twitter. In response, the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering admitted that they “cannot limit what emeritus faculty members say via private accounts” before admonishing Domingos’ claim as “meritless, sexist, inflammatory, [and] attention-seeking.”
Meanwhile, former faculty member Pedro Domingos unfortunately used the holiday weekend to yet again tweet meritless, sexist, inflammatory, attention-seeking commentary that reflects poorly on him and everyone associated with him. We, once again, repudiate his views. 2/5
— Allen School (@uwcse) January 3, 2022
The University of Washington’s repudiation follows similar outcries against Domingos from alumni, academics, Google executives, the editor-in-chief of Science Magazine Holden Thorpe and the creator of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones. (RELATED: ‘1619 Project’ Founder Nikole Hannah-Jones Admits She’s Not A ‘Professional Educator’ Despite Being A College Faculty Member)
Domingos had previously been denounced by the University of Washington for comments he made in early December 2020 about AI ethics. In response to Domingos’ statement at the time, Anima Anandkumar, director of Machine Learning at NVIDIA and professor at Caltech, sparked an uproar when she published a “block list” targeting those who’d supported Domingos. She stated that the aim of the list was to “establish accountability on social media.” (RELATED: Google CEO Apologizes For Departure Of Black Scientist Over Note Sent To Co-Workers)
“It’s disgraceful when university administrators cave in to cancel mobs and repudiate their faculty under attack,” Domingos told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Instead of standing up for academic freedom like they should. Everyone knows that discrimination against men in faculty hiring is rampant, but saying it is taboo. It’s time to let in the light.”
The first time you’re targeted by a Twitter mob, you’re shocked. The second you just shrug.
— Pedro Domingos (@pmddomingos) January 3, 2022
“Repudiating someone’s views does not equate with cancelling them,” countered University of Washington officials upon being reached for comment by the DCNF.
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