Autism, Equity and the Faculty Hiring Process (opinion)

"In the academic job market, campus visits are framed as opportunities to showcase scholarship, teaching and collegiality. In practice, however, they often function as multiday social auditions where candidates are expected to move seamlessly from formal presentations to dinners, hallway conversations and spontaneous small talk, all while conveying confidence and intellectual brilliance. For most, these rituals are exhausting but manageable. For autistic scholars, they can be insurmountable barriers."

"As an autistic academic, I have experienced firsthand how hiring practices tend to conflate intellectual ability with social performance. What is measured in these high-stakes encounters is not only one's capacity to research, teach or mentor, but also one's ability to follow unspoken social rules and perform normative versions of likability. However, there are strategies and accommodations that universities could put in place to ensure a more equitable process for neurodivergent candidates."

"In general, autistic candidates are disadvantaged by standard interview formats, which, as Christopher E. Whelpley and Cynthia P. May write, tend to "focus on interview skills, appearance, and social interactions rather than on the skills needed for a given position." Since autistic people's social abilities and conversational patterns do not align with neurotypical criteria, they can seem rude or uninterested during conversations even when they are focused and engaged. Socialization can be extremely difficult for autistic people, from finding the right way to express their ideas to understanding when it is their turn to speak."

Campus visits in academic hiring operate as extended social evaluations requiring seamless movement between formal presentations and informal interactions. Autistic candidates often struggle with unspoken social rules, conversational timing, and neurotypical norms of likability, which skews assessments away from scholarly ability. Standard interviews tend to emphasize appearance, small talk, and performative sociability rather than job-relevant skills. Autistic communicative styles can be misread as rudeness or disinterest despite engagement. Institutions can adopt strategies and accommodations—such as clearer schedules, explicit expectations, alternative meeting formats, and interview adjustments—to reduce bias and create more equitable hiring processes for neurodivergent applicants.

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