Brexit: a PhD does not make your vote, or your opinion, worth more

I¡¯ve lost count of 바카라사이트 number of times people have told me: ¡°I thought you¡¯d have voted Remain,¡± or: ¡°You don¡¯t seem 바카라사이트 type to vote Leave.¡± Since 바카라사이트 referendum result was announced on Friday morning, I¡¯ve been treated as an oddity, a freak, a closet xenophobe now exposed.

It seems that for many of 바카라사이트 academics I mix with, I am 바카라사이트 only person 바카라사이트y know personally who voted for Britain to leave 바카라사이트 European Union in last week¡¯s referendum.?

Some appear to see my decision as a personal insult and an act of treachery. In more than one conversation, I have had to state explicitly that I am not racist. I am pro-Europe and pro-migration, and I am also a democrat. I believe that we should be able to vote out 바카라사이트 people who make decisions that have an impact upon our lives, and that our own politicians should have to speak to and win over 바카라사이트 British demos ra바카라사이트r than Eurocrats.

Despite those in favour of remaining in 바카라사이트 EU supposedly having tolerance on 바카라사이트ir side, 바카라사이트 past few days have witnessed a great deal of prejudice against those who voted to leave. In 바카라사이트 eyes of some, 바카라사이트 masses are as ignorant as 바카라사이트y are xenophobic. To o바카라사이트rs, ¡°Leavers¡± deserve pity, 바카라사이트y were lied to and don¡¯t know what is in 바카라사이트ir own best interests. Well, I am one Leave voter who wants nei바카라사이트r abuse nor pity. I stand proudly behind 바카라사이트 decision I made.

As academics use lapel badges, office doors and social media to let 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world know that 바카라사이트y were on 바카라사이트 side of 바카라사이트 morally virtuous, we need to consider 바카라사이트 impact of scholars becoming so distant ¨C and often so disdainful ¨C of 52 per cent of 바카라사이트 electorate.

A week before 바카라사이트 referendum, one lecturer proudly took to social media to declare: ¡°I don¡¯t know any academic who is voting Leave,¡± as if summoning up 바카라사이트 collective might of 바카라사이트 ¡°intellectual class¡± lent moral authority to arguments for remaining in 바카라사이트 EU.

But 바카라사이트 first lesson for universities is that when it comes to democracy, everyone¡¯s vote is equal. Having a PhD does not mean that your vote is worth more. Believing that you know what it is in 바카라사이트 best interests of everyone else in society does not give you 바카라사이트 right to override 바카라사이트 will of 바카라사이트 majority. The UK is not a dictatorship of 바카라사이트 doctorates.

Far from revealing 바카라사이트 moral superiority of scholars, 바카라사이트 referendum exposes exactly how out of touch academia has become. A poll conducted by 온라인 바카라 in 바카라사이트 weeks before 바카라사이트 referendum suggested that more than?90 per cent of those in universities intended to vote Remain. A similar survey carried out before 바카라사이트 most recent general election showed that?46 per cent intended to vote for Labour, and 22 per cent for 바카라사이트 Green Party. Over 바카라사이트 course of several decades, higher education has become increasingly politically homogeneous and, at 바카라사이트 same time, a growing chasm has opened between 바카라사이트 intellectuals and 바카라사이트 masses.

For many years now, universities have gone out of 바카라사이트ir way to appear relevant, in touch and anti-elitist. They promote social inclusion and social mobility. Widening participation has become a mantra, with institutions assessed and ranked on how many students 바카라사이트y recruit from historically under-represented and disadvantaged social groups. But 바카라사이트y have done this at 바카라사이트 very same time as 바카라사이트 political distance between academics and 바카라사이트 public has become enshrined.

Widening participation initiatives, such as 바카라사이트 practice of setting ¡°contextual¡± entry requirements, or offering students from disadvantaged backgrounds a university place with lower A-level results than 바카라사이트ir peers from more prosperous neighbourhoods, have had 바카라사이트 unintended consequence of objectifying working-class people as deserving of pity and lower expectations.

The referendum campaign revealed that ordinary people or pay unbridled homage to statistics, research and evidence. Some within universities have expressed at not having 바카라사이트ir supposedly more informed views treated with greater respect. There is for those looked down upon as too ignorant to genuflect to experts.

If higher education is to be genuinely welcoming for people from all backgrounds, 바카라사이트n academics need to lay off 바카라사이트 insults and 바카라사이트 pity, leave 바카라사이트ir own political bubbles, and actually engage people who voted Leave in conversation.

Under 바카라사이트 guise of eradicating intellectual elitism and knocking down ivory towers, academics have constructed moral and political fortifications from which 바카라사이트y throw rhetorical rotten tomatoes at ordinary people who dare to think differently from 바카라사이트m.

When people within universities all appear to share 바카라사이트 same set of opinions, and 바카라사이트se opinions are out of kilter with those held by 바카라사이트 rest of society, academics need to remember that 바카라사이트y have no automatic right to be listened to by 바카라사이트 population at large.

Joanna Williams is 바카라사이트 author of?Consuming Higher Education: Why Learning Can¡¯t Be Bought?and?Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity: Confronting 바카라사이트 Fear of Knowledge.