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Wishful thinking on the Right

Reader comment on item: Conservative Professors, an Endangered Species

Submitted by Norman Levitt (United States), Apr 12, 2005 at 20:25

In a nutshell, I disagree that the reason for the undoubted disparity between liberal and right wing professors on most mainstream (that is, unaffiliated with conservative religious groups) campuses. A small fraction of that imbalance can be attributed to exclusionary practices on the part of left-leaning faculty--but no more than that. Indeed, there are areas where left-of-center scholars find themselves at a disadvantage. For instance, this is a fact of life in economics because of the hegemony of "neoclassical" economists. And obviously, business schools are hardly hotbeds of leftism. Consequently, there is probably at least a rough balance between leftists and rightists who are derailed for explicitly ideological reasons.

What, then, accounts for the overwhelming prevalence of left-of-center (as this is defined in American politics) sentiment among professors? I offer some thoughts from my own long experience as one of the breed, leading to conclusions that the right will find quite unpleasant, but which are nonetheless quite sound. I have worked at universities as a member of mathematics departments for almost 40 years. In particular, I have been at my current institution for 35 years, most of them as a member of the senior faculty, in a department of about 100 members. In that capacity, I have participated in hundreds of hiring and promotion decisions at all ranks, from post-docs to full professors. If anything is clear, it is that no factors apart from the candidate's research and teaching ability (mostly the former, to be frank) have ever been permitted to be mentioned, let alone taken into consideration. Ethnicity, sex, religion, personal friendships, and, above all, political views are simply not taken into account. Anyone trying to inject such concerns would be shouted down immediately. Most of the people we hire are strangers, apart from a brief visit where the main business is for them to lecture on whatever arcane mathematics they specialize in. There is no way of knowing what their ideological or social views are.

So what is the resulting distribution of political views? Quite simply, the overwhelming majority of my colleagues are emphatically liberal in political outlook. Just to give a benchmark, it's quite clear that at least 90% of them voted for Kerry in the last election (that may be understating it).

What accounts for this immense disparity (which will be found at almost all "research oriented" mathematics departments, by the way)? Obviously not discrimination against conservatives or favoritism toward liberals in the hiring and promotion process. The simple, and most likely answer, is that people with enough brains to do mathematics (and that means an awful lot of brains) simply don't buy into the right's Weltanshauung. Extrapolating a little bit, the same general principal applies to many other academic fields--within the humanities and social sciences, as well as in the "hard' sciences. The blunt truth is that, though there are numerous exceptions, smart people by and large don't think very much of conservatism. One can see the same phenomenon in action in the political views of students at elite universities, those where SAT scores of 1500 are routine. The political mood is overwhelmingly liberal.

It is ironic, but unsurprising, then, to see conservatives whining to their pet politicians, demanding that they pressure universities into hiring professors on the basis of political views. This is "affirmative action" of the most obnoxious sort and in the end amounts to a demand that faculties be dumbed down in order to make them more congenial to the right. The right argues that faculty opinion ought to be more in tune with the opinion of the general population. One might as well argue that a large number of Creationists should be appointed to biology departments because a huge number of American citizens believe in Creationism!
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Reader comments (81) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Is there a conservative faculty organization. [65 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
SamAug 15, 2005 16:3324686
Why ultra-conservatives feel marginalized [162 words]Chris LantzJul 4, 2005 16:3723111
13Response from a Conservative Professor [272 words]Steven RizzoJan 22, 2007 23:5023111
10Liberal Professors Are Ultimately Ignorant. [302 words]Rob AdcoxApr 17, 2007 21:3323111
Not ultra conservatives [173 words]BireshJan 11, 2009 15:1623111
5disposition [124 words]OdoSep 16, 2009 19:1923111
2negative [22 words]George HuntlyJan 20, 2010 18:0623111
3Laughably predictable diatribe [17 words]Joseph O.Jun 19, 2010 23:4523111
1Thoughts on some comments. [44 words]AnnoyJul 28, 2016 23:2923111
Ultra Conservative Lawyer ????? [12 words]Billybob SmiffJun 3, 2019 17:0023111
THANKS FOR PROVING THE POINT [60 words]John WoodJul 25, 2020 15:2823111
3Conservatives move liberals further to the left and liberals move conservatives further to the right [235 words]Neal AndersonJul 4, 2005 16:0023109
1There is no freedom left [107 words]AlbertoMay 25, 2005 12:3022414
3liberal v. conservative professors [120 words]Linda McClain, PhD.Apr 28, 2005 18:3421875
Academic Freedom Cuts Both Ways [76 words]Joe SchneiderApr 28, 2005 12:4321872
reply to Brutus [70 words]Peter J. HerzApr 22, 2005 01:0621763
2Academic Bias... and comment by Mr. Herz. [316 words]BrutusApr 20, 2005 03:2221733
1The Campus Wars [318 words]JohnApr 19, 2005 23:0421731
1Conservative faculty [205 words]Business Ph.D.Apr 17, 2005 11:0521698
Reaganite-Islamofascist alliance [41 words]Peter J. HerzApr 16, 2005 23:0721696
1What do the terms liberal and conservative mean anyway? [212 words]Ron Lukens-BullApr 16, 2005 12:1721694
Liberal bias in higher education. [33 words]Robert G. Mogull, ProfessorApr 15, 2005 04:2121675
Which schools do we need? [105 words]Alain Jean-MairetApr 15, 2005 02:5821674
What ever happened to the " Center" ? [252 words]Z.Apr 15, 2005 00:5421673
Response to comment by George Delury, Why higher education is a liberal bastion [115 words]JohnApr 15, 2005 00:3421672
She's the Daniella Pipes of the U.K. [35 words]Ivan CherApr 15, 2005 00:0121671
I got out because of leftist bias [212 words]John HornbeckApr 14, 2005 23:2821669
Constantine Kipnis is not current with modern economics [89 words]BucephalusApr 14, 2005 19:3021668
I have got to agree on leftist and feminist dominance [65 words]Octavio JohansonApr 14, 2005 17:3021666
Not quite [61 words]V.C.VijayaraghavanApr 14, 2005 14:4921658
Liberals don't have the monopoly of blindness [165 words]Germain LucasApr 14, 2005 13:0121655
1Jewish Liberal is a contradiction of terms [97 words]Burt HollabaughApr 14, 2005 12:2521654
Isn't there a void that can be filled by politically balanced universities? [305 words]Larry MillerApr 14, 2005 00:3621650
Conservative faculty [168 words]Barbara WilsonApr 14, 2005 00:1221648
Who Redefined Diversity? [437 words]Saul FridmanApr 13, 2005 17:5521641
Real academic freedom [300 words]Dave M. O'NeillApr 13, 2005 16:2021638
Krugman's Fallacy [316 words]Constantine KipnisApr 13, 2005 15:0021632
I'm one [115 words]John BickleApr 13, 2005 14:3921631
Conservatives are Stupid? [94 words]George FelderApr 13, 2005 13:1121629
Shortage of conservative professors in the humanities? [166 words]Info Tech GuyApr 13, 2005 11:5621626
Why higher education is a liberal bastion [89 words]George DeluryApr 13, 2005 11:5121625
3Leftist, feminist academic tyranny [251 words]James R. JarrettApr 13, 2005 09:4021620
CRYPTOTALITARYANS [45 words]IVAN CHERApr 13, 2005 08:5921618
The problems begin before university [596 words]Info Tech GuyApr 13, 2005 08:5421617
Conservative Chic [618 words]j rifkinApr 13, 2005 08:0121614
Easier Said than Done [96 words]J.W. MontgomeryApr 13, 2005 07:3621613
Reply to Steven Abrams [134 words]Peter J. HerzApr 13, 2005 05:5821612
Reply to Theodore Kemper [225 words]Peter J. HerzApr 13, 2005 05:4721611
1Why there are mostly liberal professors on campus [8 words]Dr John ScottApr 13, 2005 05:3721610
2Students Against Liberals [17 words]BillJan 23, 2007 15:2821610
450Dad teaching daughter in college what socialism is. [446 words]Bob JonesOct 25, 2008 16:1321610
1because they're well educated [143 words]brian johnstonNov 10, 2008 03:5321610
Reason is Obvious [41 words]Bill ManhartMay 1, 2009 18:0721610
GPA Parable flaws [114 words]D. R. KeithFeb 19, 2016 22:4921610
1A more realistic scenario [470 words]Bob B.Feb 20, 2016 19:4221610
Daughter understands [171 words]JoFeb 22, 2016 08:2221610
Flawed logic [77 words]Kat LeopardNov 7, 2016 13:4321610
If we disagree it's because we are less educated? [237 words]JimMar 16, 2018 18:0421610
Naivity at it's best [96 words]JimMar 16, 2018 18:1421610
This is why democrats always want to rescue the poor. [34 words]JimMar 16, 2018 18:3421610
The case of natural sciences disproves discrimination against conservatives. [209 words]BucephalusApr 13, 2005 05:2521609
Impossible problem [216 words]John PhilipsApr 13, 2005 00:1321603
Professors -- Teach, Don't Indoctrinate! [108 words]Dutch Bialke, BS, MA, JD, LLMApr 12, 2005 23:1021601
I am conservative.Why not? [346 words]Marcos BerensteinApr 12, 2005 23:0421600
Pro-Israel Lefties [28 words]Ted SApr 12, 2005 22:0321597
Why? [204 words]Rob JamesApr 12, 2005 21:5821596
The Red-Islamofascist Alliance [201 words]Peter J. HerzApr 12, 2005 21:1621593
John Stuart Mill [40 words]Robert LynnApr 12, 2005 20:4721592
Academics put off by GOP pandering to religious superstition [129 words]Steven AbramsApr 12, 2005 20:2821590
Christian who believes in science [183 words]patrickJul 28, 2009 16:4421590
Wishful thinking on the Right [622 words]Norman LevittApr 12, 2005 20:2521589
The Conservatives Went Off-Campus [109 words]Theodore D, KemperApr 12, 2005 20:1021588
Introduce an accountability-system [106 words]Octavio JohansonApr 12, 2005 18:5021586
Simpler possible explanations [44 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
John PhilipsApr 12, 2005 18:2021585
There will be a change.. [447 words]EzraFeb 20, 2006 23:2321585
A real horror story [100 words]Carey E. Stronach, Ph.D.Apr 12, 2005 17:4821584
Liberals in Academia [77 words]Robert B. BenowitzApr 12, 2005 16:1621581
Conservative faculty [94 words]D. LavalleeApr 12, 2005 16:0921580
Conservative Professors? Where? [176 words]Dr. Anthony R. RuffinoApr 12, 2005 15:4521579
I support Israel, but think academic bias is nonsense [157 words]D_AApr 12, 2005 13:2421571
YES...THE LEFT [72 words]DOMINIC RUBATApr 12, 2005 12:5321569

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