From David Hogberg concerning his thoughts on conservative/liberal imbalance in academia:
(Note: I did some minor editing due to problems with my e-mail program, so if there are mistakes below, it is safe to assume they are mine and not David’s)
I looked over your posts on the liberal-conservative (im)balance in academia and found them quite interesting.
First, let me say that I don?t think discrimination against conservatives is as widespread as it often hyped up to be. Certainly, some disciplines are far more hostile to conservatives in their midst?women and minority studies?than others. However, I don?t think there is an overwhelming amount of professors in academia who are determined to keep conservatives from becoming faculty.
That said, it is there, and does rear its ugly head on occasion?the case of John Lott, Jr. and his inability to find a tenure-track job comes to mind. And it plays a part in the fact that there are more liberals than conservatives. To explain, let me start with Stanley Fish?s thoughts. I think Fish was being a bit disingenuous with his editorial. Of course, ideology isn?t a part of the interview process; it would be way too easy for an aggrieved party to sue if it was. But surely Fish must know that
the hiring process is more than just interviews. For example, a prospective hire is often taken out to dinner by faculty, or to a party at a faculty member?s house. It isn?t too difficult to use such situations to discover the prospective hire?s ideology. Simply engage him or her in conversation, make remarks like ?Bush is a terrible president,? and chances are you?ll figure out their political proclivities. Do faculty members then bring such considerations to the decision to hire? Hopefully most do not, but surely some do.
Fish also ignores a huge part of the process, that of tenure. By the time a professor comes up for tenure, everyone in the department will know his or her ideology, unless that professor has made titanic efforts to be discreet. Do faculty members then bring such considerations to tenure decisions? Again, hopefully most do not, but surely some do.
As I said above, I doubt that such instances are widespread. They do occur often enough that it likely has a discouraging effect on many conservatives considering academia. They either avoid graduate school altogether or they get their degrees and seek employment elsewhere.
On your point of socialization I have to adamantly disagree. I don?t think most academic liberals are socialized as they continue on in the profession. The vast majority have their views well formed by the time they enter graduate school. The question, then, is why does the profession attract so many liberals? Frankly, I haven?t a clue. Why do so many conservatives go into business, why do so many liberals go into journalism, etc., etc.? I?d
really like to know the answer to such questions.
That leads me to the other reason why I think so few conservatives are in academia. I suspect that many of them feel like the turd in the punchbowl when they enter graduate school. They find themselves in a situation where they are in a very small minority, and they routinely encounter a lot of stereotypes about their political views. Not too many people are going to stay in that type of environment for the long haul.
To sum up, I think the stories about the occasional academic being denied a job because of his or her ideology, along with an often inhospitable environment in graduate school result in fewer conservatives in academia.
Even if these factors weren?t present, there would still be an imbalance (as I noted, the profession just seems to attract liberals.) It just wouldn?t be as severe as it is now.
As for me, I don?t intend to pursue work in academia. There are a lot of reasons, not the least of which is I?m pretty happy working in a think-tank. Two others are:
1. I had no success getting published in academic journals, which suggests I?m not very good at that type of research and writing.
2. I initially went to graduate school because I wanted to teach. After acouple of years, I was burnt out on teaching. I had lost most of my patience with students. I found myself correcting exams or essays, and screeching like Mr. Hand ?Is everyone on dope?!? Definitely not a good thing.