A survey applied to 1,162 Texas professors, by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), shows that almost half of them consider applying for job positions outside the state.
Nearly 25% have already applied for jobs outside of Texas in the last 2 years, and another 25% said they will promptly.
KBTX interviewed University of North Georgia professor Matthew Boedy, responsible for the survey. “A large majority have said they do not like the climate for higher education in Texas,” he said. “One of the questions was ‘why you were applying for another job.’ The reasons that I listed included broad political climate and that led the answers.”
More than 60% of Texas professors said they would not recommend teaching in the state to out-of-state colleagues, and to graduate students.
This survey and declarations gain more weight considering the recent events that happened in Texas Universities this week.
As reported by The Texas Tribune, on Tuesday, a former Texas A&M professor, Melissa McCoul was removed from her position due to the backlash he received after a video went viral – the video captures audio of a confrontation between McCoul and a student over gender identity. Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III released a statement concerning the termination of McCoul duties for “content that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course,” he wrote.
Later that day, Thomas Alter, former Texas State professor, was also removed from his position after a video went viral on X. He was accused of inciting political violence, after urging “anarchists” to attempt better methods to “overthrow the most bloodthirsty, profit-driven, mad organization in the history of the world,” referring to the United States.
“Conduct that advocates for inciting violence is directly contrary to the values of Texas State University,” Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse wrote in an official statement.
When questioned about this, professor Matthew Boedy said, “I think that, obviously, the president gave into political pressure to fire this particular senior instructor who was teaching the children’s literature class.” He added, “the reason given was that the syllabi didn’t match the course catalog. To me, I think that’s absurd.”
“The survey shows what Texas lawmakers and Texas officials are doing to higher education in Texas is really pushing a lot of people lo leave or consider leaving,” Boedy concluded.
A summary of the survey was published by professor Matthew Boedy.
