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The Myth of the Academic Social Contract

Karma R. Chávez

Gender and Society2026https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432261431258article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Conservative attacks on higher education have often expressed unique ire for feminist and gender studies as emblematic of a left-wing bias and overemphasis on identity in U.S. universities. Such critics of higher education long for a recentering of education that emphasizes the triumphs of Western civilization to restore universities’ social contract with the U.S. taxpayer. This brief essay offers a critique of the idea of an academic social contract, and notes that the targeting of gender may signal not just a right-wing ideological takeover, but an authoritarian one.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432261431258

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@article{karma2026,
  title        = {{The Myth of the Academic Social Contract}},
  author       = {Karma R. Chávez},
  journal      = {Gender and Society},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432261431258},
}

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The Myth of the Academic Social Contract

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.