Penn in the News

Krista Schwarz of the Wharton School is quoted about the impact of Brexit on American banks.

The underrepresentation of women among the senior ranks of scholars has led dozens of universities to adopt family-friendly employment policies. But a recent study of economists in the United States finds that some of these gender-neutral policies have had an unintended consequence: They have advanced the careers of male economists, often at women’s expense. Similar patterns probably hold in other disciplines, too.

British citizens voted on Thursday for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, ushering in a period of uncertainty for universities. The margin was 52 to 48 percent. Many in higher education opposed a British exit, or “Brexit,” from the union, arguing that membership in the E.U. helps enable international research collaborations and that free movement across member states helps U.K. universities attract top scholars and students.

The union representing faculty at 14 state universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education will set the date for a phone call to discuss holding a strike authorization vote. Citing “stagnant” negotiations on Friday, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties said delegates from all 14 campuses will join via conference call on Aug. 25 to decide whether to take a strike authorization vote.

In a rare vote Thursday, a federal advisory panel recommended denying recognition to the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, a much-maligned accrediting agency. The recommendation reflects, in part, the U.S. Department of Education’s increasing focus on holding accreditors accountable for the performance of the colleges they oversee. But it also prompted some members of the advisory panel to wonder whether the department was trying to undermine the for-profit college sector. Most of the institutions that the accreditor oversees are in that sector.

Gerard Schellenberg and Li-San Wang of the Perelman School of Medicine are cited and quoted about leading the Coordinating Center for Genetics and Genomics of Alzheimer’s Disease in collaboration with five other institutions.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center shares her thoughts on Donald Trump’s rhetoric during this campaign season saying, “the boundaries of traditional campaign discourse have been breached.”

In upholding an affirmative action program at the University of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court provided some reassurance to the minority of the nation’s colleges that continue to consider an applicant’s race in admissions. But Thursday’s ruling is unlikely to result in an expansion of more explicit race-conscious practices that have fallen out of favor in the past two decades due to shifting public opinion, previous court rulings and state bans for public institutions, legal and education experts said.

Every researcher in the Netherlands is to be questioned about whether they have committed research misconduct or engaged in “sloppy science” as part of a major national effort to bolster scientific standards. In response to rising concerns over a “reproducibility crisis” in science and a series of high-profile fraud cases in the Netherlands, the country is to commit 8 million euros ($9 million) to understanding the problem, finding solutions and trying to reproduce critical studies.

Kermit Roosevelt of the Law School comments on the Supreme Court immigration ruling that invalidates President Obama’s DAPA Executive Order.