Policymakers will most likely focus on the return on investment, or ROI, of college programs in 2025 to appease taxpayers who are skeptical of higher education. However, some critics believe that Florida policymakers are attempting to use an economic tool to justify a conservative agenda: scrapping women- and gender-based studies.
The state Board of Governors announced a new pilot program that would examine the economic return of women- and gender-based studies and four other academic programs across its public universities, the Florida Phoenix reports. Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said the pilot was inspired by a similar initiative from the University of North Carolina system, but he didn’t answer whether it was politically motivated.
The other four programs in the study are computer science, civil engineering, finance and nursing.
“From a purely practical perspective, this comparison is politically motivated,” state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat, told the Phoenix. She added that such a move “seems like a bogus evaluation to paint programs within the humanities, like Women and Gender Studies, as not being valuable to civil society and not being valuable to higher education.”
More from UB: DEI disconnect: Students have more hope as political pressure grows
Lawmakers are trying a new angle to justify gutting gender studies and related programs after previous attempts failed, Eskamani added. One state House bill introduced in 2023 attempted to let lawmakers ban certain majors they deemed liberal, or “woke.” The bill, however, was heavily amended following pushback.
One private liberal arts college overhauled by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political appointees in 2023 quickly abolished its gender studies major and fired the top DEI officer. And last fall, the school was recently criticized for improperly dumping hundreds of books related to LGBTQIA+ topics.
Similar movements beyond Florida
Public higher ed leaders and lawmakers attempting to trim expenses have increasingly engaged in “strategic reviews” of their offerings, cutting academic programs and related staff depending on the enrollment they accrue. Texas A&M University recently cut an LGBTQ+ Studies minor due to its failure to meet “performance standards,” The Texas Tribune reports.
“I look forward to further discussions with A&M and will continue fighting to keep taxpayers from funding leftist propaganda that does nothing to strengthen our economy or the workforce of tomorrow,” said state Rep. Brian Harrison.
Similarly, the University of Iowa recently consolidated its Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies into a new school featuring majors in social justice, African American studies and others, KCRG reports. One Republican state lawmaker believes it was a preemptive strategy taken before the Board of Regents begins a “total review” of its academic programs to ensure they support state workforce needs.
“Our Board of Regents and the University of Iowa know that the Higher Education Committee was going to be looking at this issue, so this was them trying to put out that fire before it really started in Des Moines,” said Rep. Taylor Collins.
