Now what are they going to do with it?
I found this story to be very interesting and heartening all at once. Couple that with this study and you have to wonder - is academia really coming to a realization about itself? Could the day actually be here when academia admits what conservative parents and students have been saying for several years now....that there is a decidedly leftist lean to academic America?
According to the Klein/Stern Study, the estimated ratio of Democratic leaning professors to Republican leaning professors in the social studies/humanities faculty (across America) is a stunning 8:1! Now this ratio is smaller is certain fields (mathematics and economics for example) but face it parents, your kids have to take social studies and humanities in college - they are going to be exposed to this in the classroom!
What's that you say? Surely the teachers don't bring their personal bias into the classroom? Not according to "a survey of students at 50 top universities showed that nearly half the students feel faculty use the classroom to present their personal political views, and that political discussions seem 'totally one-sided'."
Some other gems from the San Francisco Chronicle article:
-- Moderate U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander -- a former university president and one-time Secretary of Education -- told the Commission on the Future of Higher Education that the greatest threat to broader public support and increased funding for higher education is a "growing political one-sidedness which has infected most campuses."
-- The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, in its recent report "Intellectual Diversity: Time for Action," said "the most serious challenge for higher education today is the lack of intellectual diversity."
-- Earlier this year, the broad-based American Council on Education issued a statement, supported by 30 higher education organizations, acknowledging the growing concern about "intellectual pluralism" and the "free exchange of ideas" on campuses.
The self proclaimed bastions of diversity are any BUT diverse when it comes to thought. The consumers of education (read - students and their tuition paying parents) have got to start holding these universities and professors accountable.
It will be interesting to see what (if anything) academia does with this information. If they truly care about diversity (of race, creed, color etc) then they need to care about diversity of thought. Can they do it????? We'll see. If they do, it will finally be nice to see the elites practice what they preach!
posted by The Lady Logician at 6:47 PM permalink
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