(TheProudRepublic.com) – In worrying evidence of how deep leftism has penetrated America’s higher education system, new research has revealed that only 13% of college professors hold strong conservative beliefs.
This has been disclosed by an analysis of 4,000 scholars’ social media behaviors, according to a forthcoming study in the Review of Higher Education.
The analysis, conducted between 2021 and 2022, utilized an algorithm to assess their political orientations through their likes, posts, followers, and interactions on the platform formerly known as Twitter, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, cited by The College Fix.
The research scrutinized online expressions of faculty across over 500 higher education institutions, uncovering a greater political diversity among academics than previous survey-based research indicated.
Amidst concerns over a perceived liberal bias within academia, which conservative policymakers have argued might lead to liberal indoctrination, the study authors believe their findings dispute these allegations and provide academics with evidence to counter such claims.
By contrast, a 2013 study showed that only about 9% of professors self-identified as strongly conservative.
Nicholas Havey, Director of Institutional Research at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the survey conductor, was unavailable for comment regarding the study’s publication details or a copy of the research.
Likewise, the Chronicle of Higher Education could not provide a copy of the study.
The findings of this study suggest an increase in conservative faculty members compared to previous assessments, a conclusion featured prominently in the Chronicle’s July 26 article titled: “Actually, There Are More Conservatives on the Faculty Than You Think, Study Finds.”
These results align with a national survey from last year by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which included 1,491 faculty from four-year institutions.
Samuel Abrams, a professor of politics and social science at Sarah Lawrence College with extensive experience in analyzing political tendencies within academia, criticized the study’s methodology.
“Scrapping online accounts does not mean they have anything close to a representative sample on what faculty think, where faculty are personally, or gives you a fair picture of what reality looks like,” he stated.
Abrams highlighted the limitations of deriving conclusions from social media activity alone, noting the disparity in representation between vocal conservative and liberal users online.
Abrams also speculated that the observed increase in outspoken conservative academics might stem from enhanced support by free speech organizations defending unpopular viewpoints.
He acknowledged efforts by groups like Heterodox Academy and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni in facilitating a more comfortable environment for conservative scholars to express their views.
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