Ohio Sociologists' Attitudes toward the Advance Higher Education Act and Erosion of DEI

• In Event: Teaching Sociology in an Age of Disruption

Abstract

This study contributes to our understanding of sociologists’ stake in the current political, legal, and social struggles over higher education. This descriptive study takes Ohio as a case study because this state passed an especially restrictive law in the past year that eliminates DEI entirely, weakens tenure and faculty protections like the right to strike, and undermines academic freedom through restrictions on classroom practices. In summer 2025, we surveyed sociologists across the 15 public and 21 private universities and colleges with sociology programs. We find sociologists deeply concerned about what they perceive as features of the law that stifle academic freedom, limit free speech, and erode diversity on college campuses. They argue strongly that sociologists play a clear role in defending the value of a liberal education through the sociological imagination in research and teaching. They further articulate that sociologists should be engaged with their students and wider communities to interpret this current historical moment and protest against the attacks on DEI and academic freedom. They cogently discussed their beliefs that sociologists are uniquely at the interstices of these large-scale movements around academic freedom and diversity and equity in higher education.

Authors

• Laura Ann Sanchez, Bowling Green State University

• Elizabeth Zeiber, Bowling Green State University