Nov 29, 2006

Diversity stops at the classroom door

American professors are overwhelmingly liberal, according to a report on faculty political attitudes.

The report shows that professors who are liberals and Democrats outnumber conservatives and Republicans by large margins.

Previous surveys have reached similar conclusions, but this one suggests that the ideological divide on campuses may be greater than has previously been thought.

The authors of this survey say that their evidence suggests say that conservatives, practicing Christians and women are less likely than others to get faculty jobs at top colleges.

Faculty members in the study were asked to place themselves on the political spectrum, and 72 percent identified as liberal while only 15 percent identified as conservative, with the remainder in the middle.

The liberal percentage was highest in English literature with 88 percent. The performing arts and psychology were next at 84 percent.

Other fields have a little more balance:

Education 61 percent
Economics 55 percent
Nursing 53 percent
Engineering 51 percent
Business 49 percent

The study also found a negative correlation for being a practicing Christian or a woman to getting positions at top colleges.

It is well known that liberals have always been more secular than conservatives. It is the gender bias that comes as a surprise to me.

Link to article here. Link to report here.