Sense and Nonsense

Why are faculty so liberal? There is a common perception that faculty are left of center of the electorate. A sociology faculty member at University of British Columbia (Neil Gross) and a doctoral candidate in sociology at Harvard (Ethan Fosse) think they have come up with an answer. The "researchers" first examined "a range of characteristics that apply disproportionately to professors but are not unique to professors" and then compared those characteristics with political sensibilities. But of course then they quantify their results.

43% of the political gap between professors and the rest of us can be attributed to four characteristics - high levels of educational attainment; a disparity between their levels of education and income; to be not theologically a conservative protestant (they describe this as either being Jewish, non-religious, or a member of a faith that is not theologically conservative - but I think my definition is a bit clearer; and they have a high tolerance for controversial ideas.

How does one explain all that mumbo-jumbo? Professors in the academy are of one stripe and work hard to assure they are cloned. Thus, the tolerance for controversial ideas is really an intolerance for any ideas outside the current coda. They feel resentment l based on the perception that they should be paid more for spending all that time getting an education

"The theory we advance ... holds that the liberalism of professors is a function not primarily of class relations, but rather of the systematic sorting of young adults who are already liberally or conservatively inclined into and out of the academic professions," again there seems to be self typing and self selection.

The researchers comment "the professoriate, along with a number of other knowledge work fields, has been 'politically typed' as appropriate and welcoming of people with broadly liberal sensibilities, and as inappropriate for conservatives," they write. "This reputation leads many more liberal than conservative students to aspire for the advanced educational credentials that make entry into knowledge work fields possible, and to put in the work necessary to translate those aspirations into reality."

In my world that is not liberal, but dogmatic.