February 9, 2010

Political Bias in the Classroom: Perception and Reality

By: Darren L. Linvill, Ph.D. in Trends in Higher Education

The proper role a faculty member’s personal political ideology should play in the university classroom has been an issue of debate since Buckley published Man and God at Yale in 1951. This debate has gained prominence in recent years with the growth of groups such as David Horowitz’s Students for Academic Freedom (SAF) and the work of organizations such as the American Council of Trustees and Alumni who both feel that a pervasive liberal bias in higher education is threatening the value of students’ education.

The perception of bias has lead to legislation in 28 states since 2004, all aimed at promoting intellectual pluralism in higher education. The beliefs that have lead to such legislation are based in large part on the fact the professoriate in the United States is, without question, left leaning. Current peer-reviewed research places the proportion of liberal to conservative faculty at approximately three to one. Critics of academia are concerned this left leaning professoriate is working to indoctrinate students into holding liberal beliefs and that students who profess conservative values in the classroom are discriminated against by instructors.

Current research calls both of these concerns into question. Mariani and Hewitt (2008) utilized Higher Education Research Institute data to perform a longitudinal study exploring changes in students’ political ideology during their college years. An analysis of survey responses from 6,807 students at 38 colleges at the start of their freshman year in 1999 and then again at the end of their senior year in 2003 suggested participants tended to become more liberal during their college years, but at rates similar to the U.S. population of the same age range not attending college. Additionally, there was no evidence indicating that institutions with more liberal faculty fostered any additionally liberalism in their students. Furthermore, Kemmelmeier, Danielson and Basten (2005) explored student success as a function of ideology.

Two significant and related findings emerged from analysis of their data collected from a cohort of 5,534 students over four years at a major public university. First, in disciplines that tend to attract liberal students (e.g. sociology, American studies, and cultural anthropology) there was no relationship between students’ political views and the grades they received. Second, in disciplines that attract conservative students (e.g. economics and business), conservative students actually made higher grades than their more liberal peers, by a factor of 0.25 on a four-point grading scale. Such findings suggest that conservative students are not having their grades regularly penalized due to their beliefs.

Despite these research findings, the perception of political bias in the university classroom persists. It is not uncommon to turn on cable news and hear discussions condemning liberalism in the classroom and in textbooks. In 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that more than half of those surveyed feel that U.S. colleges and universities introduce an improper liberal bias into the classroom. Websites such as http://www.noindoctrination.org/ contain hundreds of solicited, anecdotal reports from students of political bias in the classroom.

Though research does not support that political bias is having a measurable effect on students, the perception of such a bias is likely affecting higher education. Continued rhetorical attacks and accusations of bias cannot help but affect the credibility of the system, at least in the eyes of some. In a time of economic instability and decreased public funding for education, maintaining public support for higher education is essential and addressing the perception of political bias in higher education may aid in maintaining such support.

Editor’s Note: We will continue this topic on Wednesday with an article on steps faculty can take to eliminate the perception of political bias in the classroom.

References
Kemmelmeier, M., Danielson, C., & Basten, J. (2005). What’s in a grade? Academic success and political orientation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 31, 1386-1399.

A special report: The Chronicle survey of public opinion on higher education (2004, May 7). The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(35), A12-13.

Mariani, M. D. & Hewitt, G. J. (2008). Indoctrination U.? Faculty ideology and changes in student political orientation. PS: Political Science and Politics, 41(4).

Darren L. Linvill, Ph.D., is the Basic Courses Director in the Department of Communication Studies at Clemson University.

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Tags: liberal bias in higher education, liberal campus, political bias in the classroom

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