Surprise, surprise; …

Surprise, surprise; colleges and universities, allegedly bastions of “tolerance” and “diversity”, don’t tolerate intellectual diversity all that well.

College faculties, long assumed to be a liberal bastion, lean further to the left than even the most conspiratorial conservatives might have imagined, a new study says.

By their own description, 72 percent of those teaching at American universities and colleges are liberal and 15 percent are conservative, says the study being published this week. The imbalance is almost as striking in partisan terms, with 50 percent of the faculty members surveyed identifying themselves as Democrats and 11 percent as Republicans.

The disparity is even more pronounced at the most elite schools, where, according to the study, 87 percent of faculty are liberal and 13 percent are conservative.

“What’s most striking is how few conservatives there are in any field,” said Robert Lichter, a professor at George Mason University and a co-author of the study. “There was no field we studied in which there were more conservatives than liberals or more Republicans than Democrats. It’s a very homogenous environment, not just in the places you’d expect to be dominated by liberals.”

Seems that this huge disparity should prompt some action. Or not.

Rothman sees the findings as evidence of “possible discrimination” against conservatives in hiring and promotion. Even after factoring in levels of achievement, as measured by published work and organization memberships, “the most likely conclusion” is that “being conservative counts against you,” he said. “It doesn’t surprise me, because I’ve observed it happening.” The study, however, describes this finding as “preliminary.”

If this disparity were as big in the gender category, then you’d see some quick action. Or not.

On the gender front, 72 percent of the full-time faculty are male and 28 percent female.

And how do these liberals see themselves?

In contrast with the finding that nearly three-quarters of college faculty are liberal, a Harris Poll of the general public last year found that 33 percent describe themselves as conservative and 18 percent as liberal.

Most likely, they consider themselves “independent”, which is to say that they’re tone-deaf to their own biases. These birds of a feather think they’re the only flock in town.

“In general,” says Lichter, who also heads the nonprofit Center for Media and Public Affairs, “even broad-minded people gravitate toward other people like themselves. That’s why you need diversity, not just of race and gender but also, maybe especially, of ideas and perspective.”

Hopefully, some of those liberals are listening, but hold not thy breath.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!