The Goose-step: A Study of American EducationSinclair, Upton
History
The Goose-step: A Study of American Education
Sinclair, Upton
Education -- United States; Universities and colleges -- United States
The standing of Columbia University in the field of science under the
regime of the interlocking president was interestingly revealed by a
study published in “Science” in 1906, and continued in 1910: “A
Statistical Study of American Men of Science,” by J. McKeen Cattell,
Professor of Psychology in Columbia University. It so happens that
Professor Cattell has become President Butler’s most vigorous opponent;
but this investigation had no special reference to Columbia, and the
method of conducting it was such as to preclude favoritism. A list of
the thousand leading men of American science was obtained by writing to
ten leading men in twelve different branches of science, and asking them
to name the most eminent representatives of their science in the
country. The one thousand leaders thus selected were studied from
various points of view, their ages, the countries from which they came,
the institutions at which they studied, the institutions with which they
were connected. Of these leaders it appeared that thirty-eight had taken
their doctorate degrees at Columbia, while 102 had taken their degrees
at Johns Hopkins; 78 had studied at Columbia, while 237 had studied at
Harvard. In 1905 Columbia had 60 of the thousand leaders on its faculty,
while Harvard had 66 and Yale 26; but in 1910 Columbia had 48, a loss of
12, while Harvard had 79, a gain of 13 and Yale had 38, a gain of 12. In
the listing of 1910 it appeared that 238 scientific men had gained a
place among the leaders, while 201 had lost their standing in that
group. A study of the institutions with which these men were connected
revealed an extraordinary state of affairs. Among the Harvard men 22 had
won their way to the first thousand; among the Chicago men 13 had won;
while among Columbia men, with a much larger faculty, only 8 had won. On
the other hand, 6 Harvard men had lost their standing, and 3 Chicago
men, while 12 Columbia men had lost—more than in any other institution
in the United States! So much for academic autocracy!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account