Academia

A new study questions the place of meritocracy in higher education.

• By James McWilliams

To relegate academic projects that seek to untangle the complexities of human systems to the realm of grievances is a farce—one that misses the point of the academic project in the first place.

• By Jared Keller

New research predicts that audits would reduce the number of false positive results from 30.2 per 100 papers to 12.3 per 100.

• By Dalmeet Singh Chawla

As #MeToo comes to college campuses, Kelly Baker's work shows just how deeply sexism is embedded in academia.

• By David M. Perry

It's true that much of the scholarship that professors in the humanities produce is micro-focused and barely relevant to larger social concerns. But those academics would also be best served by ignoring that critique.

• By James McWilliams

Trump is forcing academics to re-evaluate their roles as beacons of information.

• By Seth Masket

Over the past few decades, some ex-convicts have turned to academia, aiming to put their experience "inside" to good use.

• By Lucas Laursen

For academics looking to play a larger public role, publishing online can be a useful counter to some of the downsides of scholarly writing.

• By Seth Masket

Lessons from five years running a political science department that could apply to almost any job in management.

• By Seth Masket

Introducing the March/April 2016 print issue of Pacific Standard.

• By Nicholas Jackson

Former adjunct Monica Brannon talks to Noah Davis about low pay, the difficulties of finishing a dissertation, and why she didn't just get a job in a restaurant.

• By Noah Davis

Behind the scenes at the only recurring academic event devoted to J.K. Rowling's beloved novels.

• By Amy McKeever

We asked an expert.

• By Kate Wheeling

Researchers find much less bias in the grant process compared with other sciences, but highlight the need to break down institutions that hinder women's careers.

• By Nathan Collins

Adjuncts on the edge resort to helping each other.

• By Alissa Quart

Noah Davis talks to Freddie deBoer about making a living in the world of academia, why grad school worked for him (but probably not for you), and why you should get a job before you start writing about politics.

• By Noah Davis

The majority of physicists who leave the academic world are well-paid and happy with their jobs, according to a new report.

• By Nathan Collins

The government only allocates funds to researchers that mistakenly conflate sex work with sex trafficking. As an academic and a sex worker, Juniper Fitzgerald knows just how warped this thinking is.

• By Juniper Fitzgerald

Academic publishing has been slow to make use of social media, but new experiments could push the industry—and science—forward.

• By Michael White

Late-blooming research turns out to be common, according to ... new research.

• By Nathan Collins

Traditional colleges and universities have become unlikely allies of the beleaguered for-profit industry as each group tries to fend off the government’s push for more accountability.

• By Alec MacGillis

Current and former sex workers are taking a stand against their portrayal as victims and conducting studies of their own.

• By Noah Berlatsky

The demography of academic fields, and why women are more likely to participate in areas that are associated with hard work over any kind of luck.

• By Lisa Wade

A new paper provides an epic theoretical defense of humor in sociological research.

• By Ryan Jacobs