People frequently label universities as marketplaces of ideas,
where professors and students hash out global issues in order to
make informed decisions.
But even though the nation appears to be nearly equally divided
between Democrats and Republicans, universities are not.
The issue is not a great concern in mathematics and sciences,
but it is a concern in the humanities and social sciences where the
number of democratic professors is the greatest.
At UCLA, some people are questioning whether professors can
teach without letting their opinions infiltrate into their
courses.
Though professors share their data and research with one
another, only students witness their teaching methods in the
private sphere of the classroom.
While both Republican and Democratic professors say they do not
think there is a political bias in the hiring or admission of
graduate students, the possibility of a political slant in classes
is more difficult to detect.
In addition, because such a small percentage of 18-25 year-olds
vote in elections, political scientists have not studied them
enough to draw conclusive information about the effect their
professors’ views have on them.
While many professors agree that their personal and political
views on the president should not enter the classroom, they also
agree that this is easier said than done.
“It has to,” said Professor Thomas Schwartz, a
Republican political science professor. “When students are
immersed in an atmosphere that is so extremely one-sided, they
can’t help it.”
Undergraduate students are particularly vulnerable because they
usually come straight out of high school, where their main concerns
lie in fitting in, he continued.
But other professors disagreed, claiming they can teach classes
without bias in spite of their own political views.
Like members of the media, who must report neutrally in spite of
their personal beliefs, professors have to present “a
diversity of opinions” to their students, said political
science Professor Robert Hennig.
“If you just present your views, you are doing a
disservice to your students,” he continued.
And some say universities are not the liberal hotbeds they once
were. Students and professors are far less political about liberal
issues than they were in the 1960s, said John Zaller, a political
science professor.
But according to nationally syndicated radio talk-show host
Larry Elder, who identifies as a libertarian, several conservative
students call his radio show and complain that they fear getting
bad grades from their liberal professors if they write their own
opinions on papers.
“It’s disgusting,” Elder said.