College is where students learn to defend their ideas, whether conservative or liberal | Opinion – pennlive.com

The divisiveness that permeates the country today impacts the way we look at various institutions and occupations. People are characterized by what they do for a living and how they act, where they live and vote.

Perhaps nowhere is the occupational categorization more apparent than at the nations colleges and universities. College professors are often pointed to as one of the most liberal groups in the country. Some surveys have verified these attitudes. A recent survey conducted by an ideologically diverse group of scholars at the University of North Carolina found that two in every five UNC students had engaged in self-censorship out of fear of being ostracized by peers or professors.

This survey seems to suggest that those who disagree with commonly held beliefs on campus, often identified as political correctness, suffer discrimination. Some students believe that this discrimination is actualized in lower grades if they express their views in class or in papers. Faculty whose positions differ from the politically correct views of peers, report that they are often overlooked in the awarding of higher rank and/or tenure.

If this is the case, it leaves those who genuinely have a disagreement with the popular views on campus wondering if they will be alienated from friends and colleagues.

Citing the North Carolina survey results and similar pending legislation lawmakers in some states are considering bills that would requiring colleges and universities to conduct surveys to determine the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented to see if students, faculty and others feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom.

As might be expected, there are those who oppose such a bill. The United Faculty of Florida worry that the information collected by the survey might be used against them. Faculty feel that there is some danger in using information from a survey to determine if faculty are exposing opinions as fact or simply interpreting circumstances or ideas from the perspective of their disciplines.

We already know that professors in the U.S. do not exactly line up with the more middle-of-the road thinking of most Americans. Although dated, the most definitive study on the subject completed in 2007 by Neil Gross of Colby College and Solon Simmons of George Mason University found that among faculty 46.1% considered themselves moderate, 44.1% think of themselves liberal and 9.2% consider themselves to be conservative.

In 2016 the Econ Journal Watch reported a study that traced the voter registration of university faculty. They found that there was a ratio of 11.5 Democrats to every one Republican in the social sciences and history departments of 40 leading American universities. However, the ratio drops to 4.5 to one in economics departments.

Critics of higher education point to these studies and others as proof of the inherent bias at universities. They ask how universities which seek diversity in many aspects of their mission can neglect the concept when it comes to the political leanings on campus. This is part of the reasoning that Senator Rodriguez used in building a case for this bill.

But the accusation that university professors have great influence in changing students political views or that conservative professors are discriminated against is probably overstated. As a case in point interviews with 153 conservative professors summed up the recent book by Jon Shields of Claremont McKenna College and Joshua M. Dunn at the University of Colorado, found most are succeeding at their institutions and are happy there.

And as to whether liberal faculty have an undue influence on students by discriminating against them in grading and other ways also seems not to be the case. And finally, a study conducted by the University of California at San Diego reported that among conservative students there was a sense that being in an environment that was perceived to be overwhelmingly liberal was positive for students who thought differently. It made them clarify their values and ideas more profoundly. Is that not what an education should do?

An annual survey of faculty to determine their open mindedness will only reap havoc among faculty and students alike. As the political disposition of most campuses seems to matter little, it is best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Michael A. MacDowell is President Emeritus of Misericordia University in Dallas, PA.

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College is where students learn to defend their ideas, whether conservative or liberal | Opinion - pennlive.com