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I have some suggestions for tag cleanup and for the harmonization of location-specific tag wikis, what are your thoughts?

Tag Wiki entry issues Suggested Action Decision
no tag only used twice, once is correct and the other works just as well without deletion deleted
no not necessary in the only two instances where it is used (1) and (2) deletion deleted
no only one closed (!) question deletion deleted
no only 5 questions (2 of which are closed), could be replaced in all instances with the tag which has a wiki entry deletion, replace with or at least link with
no only 4 question, two of them duplicates of one of the other two (which is kind of a duplicate of the 4th, could be replaced with deletion, replace with keep tags separate, created wiki entry
country/region/continent specific tags partly Where existent, tag wikis differ and are sometimes very western-centric. Example: "On standards or conventions specific to Germany's higher education system, which differs in structure and style from the systems in North America, Asia, or elsewhere in Europe." South America, Africa and Australia/Oceania are not mentioned in this comparison! By not referring to specific somparison regions, those tags can be more inclusive. harmonize all country/region/continent-specific tag wikis to: On standards or conventions specific to the higher education system in specific country/region/continent, which differs in structure and style from the systems in other parts of the world. finished, will keep an eye on emerging new location tags
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    Hi Sursula, thank you very much for undertaking this (and, more generally, thank you for what you do in curating the site)! I definitely agree with all your suggestions: will start looking soon to the easy ones. For the last one, we will see how we can harmonize the tag wikis.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Dec 14, 2021 at 12:52
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    An apology: I just voted against three or four of the country-tag edits in the review queue without being aware of this meta post or the reasoning contained herein. (The reasoning given in the comment with the proposed edits is different, and IMO less sound than the reasoning you set out here.)
    – Daniel Hatton
    Dec 14, 2021 at 14:13
  • Thanks so much! Feel free to propose tag synonyms as you see fit.
    – eykanal
    Dec 14, 2021 at 17:19
  • +1 to Daniel, from the suggested-edit message, I was not able to judge what is the justification behind it. It is usually good to give a link to the Meta discussion in the suggested-edit message to inform reviewers. But in general, I support the initiative as I know more about it.
    – Anton Menshov
    Dec 14, 2021 at 18:54
  • BTW, I just happened across the (sole) nursing question and deleted it. I agree with Buffy that having the tag may make sense ("nursing" is an on-topic part of academia), but I didn't see the value in keeping a closed question with no answers.
    – cag51 Mod
    Dec 15, 2021 at 2:13
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    coming from a country where a nursing degree ins't an academic one, I might be biased in my opinion to delete the "nursing" tag, if you (cag51 and Buffy) think it makes sense to keep it I would not oppose.
    – Sursula
    Dec 15, 2021 at 13:11
  • See this about two different doctorates in nursing: practice and theory. gradschools.com/doctorate/nursing
    – Buffy
    Dec 16, 2021 at 20:33
  • Thanks for the improved descriptions on the edit proposals, @Sursula. I note that the united-kingdom one retains the existing parenthetical list of the four constituent countries of the UK. I wonder what people will read into that, given that, e.g., the university sector in Scotland is organized, funded, and regulated quite differently from the university sector in England and Wales...?
    – Daniel Hatton
    Dec 17, 2021 at 17:35
  • @DanielHatton I think ot should be decided by people familiar with the UK system(s) if splitting the UK into the single countries will be necessary.
    – Sursula
    Dec 17, 2021 at 18:52
  • @Sursula I'm tempted to post a new meta question about it, but I notice a previous meta question on the subject was heavily downvoted and resulted in no action.
    – Daniel Hatton
    Dec 18, 2021 at 13:54
  • @DanielHatton Who knows, maybe with the whole Brexit misery and all we might be faced with a situation where the UK is not so united any more and the question to separate the countries also here might become more relevant than it is now...
    – Sursula
    Dec 18, 2021 at 14:18
  • Revisiting this. The country tag wiki suggestion is approved; looks like that has already been done? If any remain undone, we should do them. I created a wiki entry for "socializing" to hopefully clarify the positive connotation (as opposed to interpersonal-issues, which is more negative). There is still enough disagreement about "minority" that I haven't taken any action....if I were to make an executive decision, I would probably make "minority" a synonym of "inclusivity" as suggested above....thoughts welcome.
    – cag51 Mod
    Dec 27, 2021 at 20:59
  • I see implementation for the country tag wikis continues. @Sursula, I notice you propose to leave in the mention that Turkey is a signatory to the Bologna process. We don't appear to mention it for other Bologna signatories. Thoughts?
    – Daniel Hatton
    Jan 10, 2022 at 9:58
  • @DanielHatton When chancing the tag Wiki, I only replaced the descriptor about the country, not any additional info that was already there. But you're totally right, the Bologna info could either be omitted or added to the other applicable countries as well.
    – Sursula
    Jan 10, 2022 at 10:46

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I'll add to this as I consider further.

I think should stay provided there are any questions validly using it - even if closed. It is a valid field even if not common here. There are both research and practice (clinical) doctorates: https://www.gradschools.com/doctorate/nursing. Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doctoral_degrees_in_the_US

I think should go or be a synonym to .

I really think that all the country tags need to stay since many of our questions depend on country specific policies. Even and can be distinguished.

I'm worried about being a synonym of . They don't really mean the same thing.

and are used very differently. One has a positive impulse and the other almost always negative. Maybe they both need to be synonyms of something else like personal-relations or such.

Note that I've been scanning for single question tags and editing where it makes sense. The mobility tag is now moot (not my fault). I also scan frequently for new tags and try to replace/remove them.

More....

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    I am not proposing any of the country tags should go, I am simply proposing to harmonize them so that they contain an interchangeable, identical text where only the country, region or continent name is changed.
    – Sursula
    Dec 14, 2021 at 20:36
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    Sounds good, then.
    – Buffy
    Dec 14, 2021 at 20:43
  • Note that nursing was used for just one closed and now deleted question. If in the future there will appear other questions it can be reintroduced.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Dec 16, 2021 at 21:09
  • @MassimoOrtolano, no problem. The issue is moot.
    – Buffy
    Dec 16, 2021 at 21:13
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I had a look into the few questions tagged , which is the only tag not yet handled in the list:

  1. How can faculty best telegraph work-life balance challenges under COVID to our administration? For this one, I think that the tag is unnecessary.
  2. Gender, Independence, and Authorship This one is closed as opinion-based.
  3. Non Anglo and older grad school applicant This one is closed as duplicate, it doesn't have any answer, and the duplicate target doesn't have the tag.
  4. Do US universities publish an official definition of what constitutes a particular race/ethnicity in the context of scholarships or admissions? For this one, it seems to me that the tag would be OK.
  5. How do I incorporate/emphasize my experiences teaching at an HBCU? Here's the tag seems OK (thanks to Buffy for clarifying the usage in a comment).
  6. Are universities strongly associated with ethnic minority groups a thing outside the USA? For this one, there are also the tags and , and probably is redundant.

In view of the above, I'd be in favour of deleting the tag —replacing it with in the very few instances where it is appropriate—because at the moment there's not enough base of questions to have it around.

If in the future questions genuinely needing the tag appear, we can always reintroduce it.

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  • Note that HBCUs are "minority" in the classic sense: Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
    – Buffy
    Oct 24, 2022 at 19:25
  • @Buffy Thanks, I was misunderstanding the usage. That's why I'd have liked to see a bit more discussion on this.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Oct 24, 2022 at 19:30
  • Still the same six questions. No further usage. The first one is peripherally about minorities. More attrition there is a concern for the OP.
    – Buffy
    Oct 24, 2022 at 19:31
  • For the third one, the dup didn't cover all the issues, just age. Non-Anglo is "minority". Oddly, in 50 years, Anglo will be minority in US.
    – Buffy
    Oct 24, 2022 at 19:33
  • @Buffy I don't know. If I were to move to the US, I wouldn't probably consider myself as part of a minority. The Merriam-Webster defines a minority (in the sense of interest to us, I guess) as "a part of a population thought of as differing from the rest of the population in some characteristics and often subjected to differential treatment". So, being non-Anglo doesn't imply that one is subjected to differential treatment, and thus a minority.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Oct 24, 2022 at 19:41
  • If you are from Sicily or Calabria then in my immediate area you wouldn't be a minority at all. Bologna probably yes, except politically. I've never been to Torino, though.
    – Buffy
    Oct 24, 2022 at 20:06
  • @Buffy I find it curious that you'd consider me part of a minority in the US if around the area there weren't any Italians of my current area. Actually I spent several months in the US and I also have a number of past students who moved there, and none of us have never felt to be a minority, regardless of the number of other Italians around (which was typically around zero). The key point is that we have a privileged job in which, furthermore, the colleagues are willing to help in case of difficulties. And all this put us foreigners aside from any minority.
    – Massimo Ortolano
    Oct 26, 2022 at 18:34
  • Actually, I only meant "numerical" minority, not "disadvantaged" minority. But there was a time in the US when Italians were definitely discriminated against, considered non-white. Same for Irish, oddly (or not) enough. We have a lot of derogatory words for people from different places: Spain, Poland, Italy, China, etc. etc. etc. The terms seem to be dying out many places, gladly.
    – Buffy
    Oct 26, 2022 at 19:18
  • For historical reasons, however, this region has a huge southern Italian population. Partly due to conditions in Italy and partly due to (late 19th century) employment needs in certain industries here, like railroad building, for example.
    – Buffy
    Oct 26, 2022 at 19:23

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