Intellectual inbreeding or academic inbreeding is the practice in
academia
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
of a university hiring its own graduates to be
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
s. It is generally viewed as
insular
Insular is an adjective used to describe:
* An island
* Someone who is isolated and parochial
Insular may also refer to:
Sub-national territories or regions
* Insular Chile
* Insular region of Colombia
* Insular Ecuador, administratively known ...
and unhealthy for academia.
Intellectual inbreeding is thought to hinder the introduction of ideas from outside sources, just as genetic
inbreeding
Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...
hinders the introduction of new genes into a
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...
.
The
Commission on Graduate Education in Economics (COGEE) recognizes it as "a trend for emulation rather than diversification." Academic inbreeding has also been cited as a major problem in the major universities of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...
—such as
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...
and
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
, which have adopted measures in recent years specifically to combat the practice
—and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. A relevant study
also exists that analyzes the issue by considering
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
as examples.
References
External links
The Making of an Economist - Intellectual Inbreeding{{Intellectualism
Academic terminology