Seems those ivy-covered walls might be hiding something besides classrooms and offices. We’ve all heard that colleges foist liberal ideals upon the students; now we have a good idea why. Not that it’s any surprise, but it seems that conservatives—Republicans in general, and NRA members especially—have about a snowball’s chance in Death Valley of getting hired for professorial positions.
And the funny thing is, a professor is the source of the report about bias. University of North Texas professor George Yancey has just published “Compromising Scholarship Religious and Political Bias in American Higher Education.” One of the objectives in publishing the book was to offer up substantial evidence to back up the assertions that liberal bias exists in our higher education system. Yancey does this by surveying a slew of professors and he finds—surprise—that politically and/or religiously conservative people are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to getting jobs in academia.
One question he asks is this: "Assume that your faculty is hiring a new professor," began his survey, taken by 435 sociology professors in the United States. "If you were able to learn of [their political group memberships], would that make you more or less likely to support their hire?" The political parties given as examples run the gamut, from Communist, to Libertarian, Green, Republican and Democrat; organizations with a political bent that were mentioned include the NRA and ACLU.
Of all affiliations, membership in the NRA was most likely to hurt someone’s chances of getting hired, with more than 40 percent of respondents saying it would taint their impression of the applicant. But almost 29 percent said admitting to voting Republican would hurt, too.
So, now that the university system has had its bias thrown in its face by one of its own, what does that mean? Well, Yancey admits from the onset that the system automatically limits the free exchange of ideas and opinions that was once the foundation of a good education.
