ABSTRACT

“Political correctness” entered the educational lexicon near the end of the 1980s. Originally used rather self-deprecatingly by those advocating a range of reforms in higher education, the term has pejorated as the decibel level over its implication for higher education has risen in the volatile 1990s. For some, however, the stakes involved seem more subtle though equally important. For example, there are those who feel that the loud volume of the political-correctness debate serves as a convenient, high-profile vehicle for venting frustrations and dissatisfactions about higher education in general. Regardless of individual perceptions of the significance of the political-correctness debate, the literature of the last few years indicates that it is a serious, escalating issue that will take increasing amounts of academic time, energy, and resources to resolve, if resolution is, in fact, the appropriate goal. A number of writers labor at putting the political correctness debate in what they feel is a more realistic perspective.