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[benox]

Hi:

As a foreigner in this country, I am very curious about the distribution of GOP and democratic party supporters in academia. It is said that half and half in Harvard faculty. Is this typical?

I guess this forum is an appropriate place to ask this. Who can share some insights? :)

[expatinuk]

Read the 'Elections' thread

[zharkov]

First, you need to keep in mind that many Americans are independents, or undecided, or middle of the roaders.  That means they swing their support based on the candidates and issues.  So there is not a half and half split at Harvard or any place else.  It could be 30/40/30, say, with 40 being the middle.

Second, you will tend to find differences among different departments. There are probably more Dems and liberals (whatever that means) in the humanities and social sciences, relatively more GOP and conservatives (whatever that means) in the natural sciences, business, criminal justice, perhaps medicine.

Third, the split differs between different parts of the US, and some schools are a tad more Dem or GOP.

Finally, about Harvard, how Democratic/liberal can a school be for more or less ousting a president who was the former Democratic secretary of the treasury for asking a "what if" question, in a seminar where he was requested to ask challenging questions?

[expatinuk]

Finally, about Harvard, how Democratic/liberal can a school be for more or less ousting a president who was the former Democratic secretary of the treasury for asking a "what if" question, in a seminar where he was requested to ask challenging questions?

I think you also have to ask yourself 'How liberal can people be when they don't want to associate with people who don't share their views.'

[terminalmfa]

I think if you read these boards, you'll see pretty clearly that -- all protestations to the contrary -- we academics tend way more to the liberal side of things (by varying degrees -- we're not all clones). 

But let's be honest -- academia, in the US anyway, tends to attract more liberals than conservatives. 

[college_grad]

Last time I looked at a voter demographics database, 80% of people with Ph.D.s voted Democratic, 80% of people with Master's degrees as a highest degree voted Republican.  Slap me if I'm wrong, but I think MBA and MEng and MSci degrees can often lead to non-tt teaching gigs - probably tenure for MBAs with distinguished corporate experience.  (But today's conservatives don't seem to value job security as much as liberals do - not just as a personal preference but as a policy goal as well) 

If you want to find professional conservatives on campus they're probably in the business building, engineering building, and/or administration building (if there are any at all). 

[prof_smartypants]

According to Erikson and Tedin (American Public Opinion, v6)

In 1984, 42% of faculty considered themselves liberal, 27% "middle of the road" and 31% "conservative"

In 1999, 45% liberal; 37% middle of the road; 18% conservative

College students on the other hand placed themselves
In 1984: 35% liberal; 39% middle of the road; 26% conservative
In 1999: 36% liberal; 33% middle of the road; 33% conservative

They also state, "college generally has a liberalizing effect on noneconomic political opinions...college seniors are consistently found to be less conservative then entering freshmen."

They also point out that while education typically has a liberalizing effect on political attitudes toward SOCIAL issues, it has the opposite effect on ECONOMIC issues. This is likely a result of the high correlation between education and income. I would guess that it's not the education that's causing the conservatism, but the [typically] resultant higher income.

As for the PhD/Masters split, I haven't seen anything to corroborate that. Lots of people get MAs in fields that don't pay particularly well. From what I've seen and read (and I read a lot of this stuff...) education has a direct, consistent, and positive impact on political liberalism.

[oldadjunct]

There seems also to be a high correlation between education and the belief that the earth revolves around the sun.

[college_grad]

Bah - I can't install my demographics database because the computer doesn't have a floppy drive. 

What I think was included in the Master's category was all post-bachelor's but non-doctoral degrees.  So, not only would it include MBAs, it would also include accountants, brokers, and other financial professionals with post-bach certifications and ultra-specialized 5th year programs. 

I'd confidently guess that graduates with MAs in the humanities are overwhelmingly liberal, but the number of these who do not continue on to Ph.D.s would be very small compared to the number of business & finance majors who get a 5th or 6th year degree without pursuing a research-based doctorate.

[tuxedo_cat]

Well, if we are to believe the rantings of David Horowitz, academia is thoroughly overrun with those pesky, biased liberals, who are all brazenly perverting the tender minds of our youth as we speak.  It's a tough job, but somebody needs to do it.

T-cat

[zharkov]

I'd confidently guess that graduates with MAs in the humanities are overwhelmingly liberal...

They study the liberal arts, their minds become liberated, they tend to hold liberal views.

Makes sense to me.

[kedves]

This article in the New York Times from the last presidential election reports a survey finding that Democrats outnumber Republicans  7-to-1 in the humanities and social sciences nationally and 9-to-1 in all disciplines at Berkeley and Stanford (including science, technology, engineering, and professional schools).  The difference is strongest at the young-professor/assistant-professor level.  The latter study used voter registration records, so people who didn't register as either (independents) wouldn't show up in it.  I didn't find anything about all faculty nationally.

The Chronicle recently ran a brief article about political campaign contributions.  Obama contributions from faculty greatly outnumber McCain contributions.

I would be surprised if it is anything close to 50%-50% at Harvard.

[sikora]

I knew it.

I'm hanging out with a bunch of commie-pinko Islamo-fascist treehuggers and women who don't shave their legs.

[prof_smartypants]

This was your first indication of that, Sikora?

Speaking of which, I really need to shave my legs....

[bigsky]

Second, you will tend to find differences among different departments. There are probably more Dems and liberals (whatever that means) in the humanities and social sciences, relatively more GOP and conservatives (whatever that means) in the natural sciences, business, criminal justice, perhaps medicine.

As a natural scientist that would like to keep teaching evolution I think we would fall into the more liberal side of things. I estimate my department is 60-80% liberal.