Michel Estefan
@mestefan.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Teaching & Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dept. of Sociology, University of California, San Diego. Views are my own.
“Five studies examine the interrelationships between opposition to expert consensus on controversial scientific issues, how much people actually know about these issues, and how much they think they know.
Knowledge overconfidence is associated with anti-consensus views on controversial scientific issues
Those with the strongest counter-consensus attitudes on scientific issues are the most overconfident in their knowledge.
www.science.org
November 26, 2025 at 10:21 PM
“Five studies examine the interrelationships between opposition to expert consensus on controversial scientific issues, how much people actually know about these issues, and how much they think they know.
Friends and colleagues, here’s my unlicensed, unsolicited management advice about conflict entrepreneurs. You know who I’m talking about; the folks at your workplace who raise the temp instead of lowering it.
Invite them to coffee.
Invite them to coffee.
November 25, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Friends and colleagues, here’s my unlicensed, unsolicited management advice about conflict entrepreneurs. You know who I’m talking about; the folks at your workplace who raise the temp instead of lowering it.
Invite them to coffee.
Invite them to coffee.
Y'all, we keep it fresh, empirical, and controversial over here at UCSD Sociology.
My colleague Lane Kenworthy is giving a talk on December 4th based on his new book, and here’s a hook for you:
My colleague Lane Kenworthy is giving a talk on December 4th based on his new book, and here’s a hook for you:
November 25, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Y'all, we keep it fresh, empirical, and controversial over here at UCSD Sociology.
My colleague Lane Kenworthy is giving a talk on December 4th based on his new book, and here’s a hook for you:
My colleague Lane Kenworthy is giving a talk on December 4th based on his new book, and here’s a hook for you:
Does expanding education actually help kids from poor families move up the economic ladder, or do rich families just find new ways to stay on top?
#sociology #highered #meritocracy
#sociology #highered #meritocracy
Is Meritocracy Not So Bad After All? Educational Expansion and Intergenerational Mobility in 40 Countries - Herman G. van de Werfhorst, 2024
In the face of continued socioeconomic inheritance, the belief that the simple expansion of educational opportunities will create meritocratic societies has bee...
journals.sagepub.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Does expanding education actually help kids from poor families move up the economic ladder, or do rich families just find new ways to stay on top?
#sociology #highered #meritocracy
#sociology #highered #meritocracy
Y’all, I’ve got two quick plugs today.
First: Nina Bandelj’s upcoming Princeton University Press book on parenting. Ya’ll know us academics are deep in the concerted-cultivation Olympics, so this one hits close to home. #MustRead
First: Nina Bandelj’s upcoming Princeton University Press book on parenting. Ya’ll know us academics are deep in the concerted-cultivation Olympics, so this one hits close to home. #MustRead
November 22, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Y’all, I’ve got two quick plugs today.
First: Nina Bandelj’s upcoming Princeton University Press book on parenting. Ya’ll know us academics are deep in the concerted-cultivation Olympics, so this one hits close to home. #MustRead
First: Nina Bandelj’s upcoming Princeton University Press book on parenting. Ya’ll know us academics are deep in the concerted-cultivation Olympics, so this one hits close to home. #MustRead
I think a dominant strand of inclusive pedagogy during the past decade got diversity and its implications for teaching wrong. Here's my take in this piece I just published @insidehighered.com.
#HigherEd #Teaching #Pedagogy #InclusiveTeaching #UniversalDesign
#HigherEd #Teaching #Pedagogy #InclusiveTeaching #UniversalDesign
“Win-Win” Pedagogy Is Impossible (opinion)
Teaching choices—about a laptop ban, for instance—involve trade-offs, and that’s OK.
www.insidehighered.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I think a dominant strand of inclusive pedagogy during the past decade got diversity and its implications for teaching wrong. Here's my take in this piece I just published @insidehighered.com.
#HigherEd #Teaching #Pedagogy #InclusiveTeaching #UniversalDesign
#HigherEd #Teaching #Pedagogy #InclusiveTeaching #UniversalDesign
November 14, 2025 at 5:27 PM
They don’t tell you this in the books about becoming a parent…
November 14, 2025 at 3:55 AM
They don’t tell you this in the books about becoming a parent…
I had such a great time talking about writing and publishing with my #SSSP colleagues today! Huge thanks to Hadi Khoshneviss for the invite!
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
November 11, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I had such a great time talking about writing and publishing with my #SSSP colleagues today! Huge thanks to Hadi Khoshneviss for the invite!
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
I’m doing a thing with SSSP colleagues tomorrow! Join us! 9am PST / 12pm EST.
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
November 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I’m doing a thing with SSSP colleagues tomorrow! Join us! 9am PST / 12pm EST.
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
The finding from this paper: PhDs are an engine of innovation. Want more patents? Produce more folks with PhDs.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
November 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The finding from this paper: PhDs are an engine of innovation. Want more patents? Produce more folks with PhDs.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
Fascinating episode! It’s part of a series that takes one month of 1933 per episode, tracing the rise of Nazism in Germany.
Episode 70 -- Project 1933, Part II: March 15 to April 15
open.spotify.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Fascinating episode! It’s part of a series that takes one month of 1933 per episode, tracing the rise of Nazism in Germany.
Everyone has a right to live a life with dignity. College degree or no college degree. No argument there. But if you’re one of those college degree critics, at least get the data right.
College education
Lane Kenworthy, The Good SocietyMarch 2025 For much of the past century, America’s colleges and universities have been the envy of the world. That’s still true when it comes to research…
lanekenworthy.net
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Everyone has a right to live a life with dignity. College degree or no college degree. No argument there. But if you’re one of those college degree critics, at least get the data right.
Faculty colleagues: hear about AI straight from college students themselves. A must-listen for anyone teaching in 2025.
#Ai #HigherEd #teaching #pedagogy
#Ai #HigherEd #teaching #pedagogy
How Do Students Feel About Their AI Use? It's Complicated
open.spotify.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
"Two things need to be said after reading The Anxious Generation. First, this book is going to sell a lot of copies, because Jonathan Haidt is telling a scary story about children’s development that many parents are primed to believe.
The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?
The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"Two things need to be said after reading The Anxious Generation. First, this book is going to sell a lot of copies, because Jonathan Haidt is telling a scary story about children’s development that many parents are primed to believe.
😎✊#UC
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
University of California is the best public university in the country, Forbes finds
The 2026 America’s Top Colleges list features an all-UC top 3 and eight campuses in the top 30 for producing successful, low-debt graduates.
www.universityofcalifornia.edu
November 3, 2025 at 9:34 PM
😎✊#UC
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
I’ve noticed a funny pattern in my TikTok feed about dog training. Puppy-stage videos are all about positive reinforcement—building trust, using treats and toys to redirect behavior. Basically, it’s the gentle-parenting paradigm but for dogs.
November 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I’ve noticed a funny pattern in my TikTok feed about dog training. Puppy-stage videos are all about positive reinforcement—building trust, using treats and toys to redirect behavior. Basically, it’s the gentle-parenting paradigm but for dogs.
Should have thought of this last night after turning off the porch light didn’t work to signal that we were out of candy. #keptringingdoorbell
h/t Matthew Hunt
h/t Matthew Hunt
November 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Should have thought of this last night after turning off the porch light didn’t work to signal that we were out of candy. #keptringingdoorbell
h/t Matthew Hunt
h/t Matthew Hunt
Student today: “You look tired, professor.”
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
October 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Student today: “You look tired, professor.”
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
Fantastic episode if you want to understand why the Right has such a fraught relationship with American universities.
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
Episode 74: The Trustees (with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd)
open.spotify.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Fantastic episode if you want to understand why the Right has such a fraught relationship with American universities.
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
I deserve an award for empirically disproving rational choice theory.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
October 25, 2025 at 1:38 AM
I deserve an award for empirically disproving rational choice theory.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
Reposted by Michel Estefan
Thank you for joining us @mestefan.bsky.social, @kylethegreen.bsky.social, @shamuskhan.bsky.social, Jonnie Lotesta, Myron Strong, and @lisawade.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Thank you for joining us @mestefan.bsky.social, @kylethegreen.bsky.social, @shamuskhan.bsky.social, Jonnie Lotesta, Myron Strong, and @lisawade.bsky.social
This is tomorrow! Join us!
October 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
This is tomorrow! Join us!
👏
MIT is first school to reject Trump administration's agenda in exchange for funding benefits
"With respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education,” the Massachusetts Institute of Technology president wrote in a letter.
www.nbcnews.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:45 PM
👏