Liberal U - Why Are American Universities Run by Democrats?

LIBER AL U WHY ARE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES RUN BY DEMOCRATS? That Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans in the faculties of American uni- versities has been a well established fact for some time, but it's also been one shrouded in mystery. Researchers argue that this dramatic lack of diversity is detrimental to students and the academic community alike. Are liberal hiring committees blocking conservative candidates? Or do conservatives simply self- select out of the largely liberal profession? These are the two competing theo- ries - but research suggests that this might not be an either-or situation. COLLEGE PROFESSOR THE MOST LIBERAL PROFESSION In the United States, university professors are the single most liberal occupational group. 4 TO 1 6 TO 1 Democrats outnumber at elite universities. Republicans at colleges nationwide. US COLLEGE SOCIAL SCIENCE PROFESSORS PROFESSORS 56% 51% 36% 28% 14% Registered Democrats Registered Republicans BUT WHY? BIAS VS. SELF-SELECTION TWO COMPETING THEORIES Academia is biased Conservatives simply aren't against conservatives attracted to academia 1 THE BIAS THEORY 68% ABOUT HALF of hiring committees are swayed negatively of Americans believe that colleges favor liberal professors. by conservative candidates HIRING COMMITTEE In one survey, professors of sociology were asked how they would favor different characteristics of a potential hire for their department: BEING A BEING A BEING AN BEING AN DEMOCRAT: REPUBLICAN: ACLU MEMBER: NRA MEMBER: 1/4 1/4 30% 41% 1/4 would weigh 1/4 would weigh unfavorably. 30% would weigh 41% would weigh unfavorably. favorably. favorably. THE CONCLUSION Liberal professors don't want to hire conservative candidates. 2 THE SELF-SELECTION THEORY Liberals are TWICE as likely as conservatives to say they're intending to pursue a doctoral degree. Therefore, grad students are a largely liberal demographic: 24-32 yrs. old 24-32 year old grad students 35% 50% And conservatives, 23% already a minority in this age group, are even more so on campuses: 18% O Since liberals are already overrepresented in graduate schools, randomly hiring professors from that pool would still produce a liberal majority. Although Only 68% 7% of Americans believe of Republican professors that colleges favor liberal professors. believe there is discrimination against conservatives on campus THE CONCLUSION Liberals simply want to be professors more than conservatives do. JUST AS SOME JOBS ARE "SEX TYPED"... ... PROFESSORS ARE "POLITICALLY TYPED" ,I. Both sides of the debate clearly make a point. Liberal bias seems to exist in col- lege faculties, at the same time that self-selection does really take place. So which theory is better? It seems likely that each of these feeds the other - why, after all, would a Republican want to work with people who don't want to work with him? But we'll just have to wait for another study to know for sure. CREAT ED BY www.ONLINESCHOOLS.ORG References: http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/-ngross/lounsbery_9-25.pdf http://www.gallup.com/poll/120857/conservatives-single-largest-ideological-group.aspx http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/education/edl-24notebook-t.html http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/18/liberal http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/21/new_studies_back_theory_that_the_professoriate_is_liberal_because_of_self_selection https://www10.arts.ubc.ca/fileadmin/template/main/images/departments/soci/faculty/gross/fosse_freese_gross_2_25.pdf BY NO ND This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. ---- -l: