In the LA Times today there was (as part of a larger discussion; see the longer post to follow) a set of data about the increase of the proportion of people with left-leaning political views on American University Campuses. I comment about it in the other post, but there are some interesting features which bear discussing outside of that context. First, the data:
Among faculties Academics who identified themselves as left or liberal • in 1984 39% • in 1999 72% Academics who identified themselves as right or conservative • in 1984 34% • in 1999 15% Among campus faculties in 1999, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 5 to 1 The Democratic advantage by department in 1999 • English: 35 to 1 • History: 17.5 to 1 • Biology: 4 to 1 • Engineering: 3 to 1 • Computer science: 2 to 1 • Chemistry: 1.5 to 1 • But in agriculture, Republicans held a 1.3 to 1 edge. In 2004, employees of the University of California and Harvard University were John Kerry's largest dollar contributors and among Howard Dean's top five.
That was for faculty. The first thing I wanted to know when I saw these numbers was why there were not any numbers for Physics or Mathematics! Also, what does this mean, exactly? Is it that the scientists and engineers are not reporting accurately, or is there really something going on here that means that there are fewer "left-leaning" people in thsoe groups. Or is it that people in English and History are more politically active or aware? I've not got a clue, but these data are certainly very interesting, don't you think? Here are some interesting (less dramatic, to my mind) numbers for students:
Among students, Incoming freshmen who identified themselves as left or liberal • in 1984 22% • in 2004 30% Incoming freshmen who identified themselves as right or conservative • in 1984 21% • in 200424%
(In both cases: Sources: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1984); Stanley Rothman, S. Robert Lichter and Neil Nevitte (1999); Harris Poll (1984, 2004); Center for Responsive Politics (2004); Higher Education Research Institute (2004).) What I would have found much more interesting for the latter set of figures (perhaps the data are not available....that's a study that should be done.....does any one know?) is a survey of those same students when they leave university four years later. Are they more or less Democrat or Republican than when they left? What about you? If you went to college, did your political leanings (if you had any) change in any way? Which way? Why and how was this change brought about (e.g, passionate debate; it was cool; the meetings were an opportunity to meet the hot chicks/dudes....etc) ? Is it really the case that Science and Engineering people are less polarised, or is there something skewing the data? I'll take cover and let you have your say. -cvj
