AN ETHICAL ISSUE-ACADEMIC INCEST: MAINTAINING STATUS QUO IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Academic Incest is a term to describe inbreeding in higher education institutions to maintain status quo.  Respected universities in the United States do not favor hiring professors, who received the degrees from their own universities; instead, they prefer diversity and hire professors with degrees from various other universities. When someone receives the degree from a university and starts working at the same university immediately upon graduation, it is called academic incest suggesting a negative connotation to the biological term “incest”. At some instances, typically receiving all undergraduate and graduate degrees from the same institution is also considered “academic incest”, because diversity in educational background is suggested to be beneficial and makes someone’s education more valuable. In this paper, I will discuss academic traditions in Turkey and in the United States as opposing examples of Academic Incest. Why traditionally many Turkish Universities prefer Academic Incest in hiring as a way of maintaining status quo, and whether it is an ethical issue at higher education; will also be discussed.

Keywords: Higher Education, An Ethical Issue, Academic Incest.

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