More than two-thirds of conservative academics in higher education in the United States and Canada reported a "hostile" work environment stemming from colleagues with opposing political beliefs, a new study showed.
In the political bias review by the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology released Monday, about 70% to 80% of those who have right-wing views said they face people actively "discouraging them from pursuing academic careers," predominantly in the humanities and social sciences.
“High profile incidents of campus illiberalism are often brushed off as spirited exceptions to the rule that academic freedom is safe,” an executive summary noted.
The study results found that:
- 62% of grad students with a "very right" worldview said revealing their political views to their peers would "make [their] life difficult;" 32% with "somewhat right" views said the same.
- 18% of centrists said they would be discriminated against, 6% of the "somewhat left" group indicated their views would complicate their experience, and 8% of the "very left" said the same.
- 4 in 10 academics would not hire a supporter of former President Donald Trump and 65% of graduate students said they would hire an advocate of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over a Trump backer.
- 57% of U.S. academics said they "would be uncomfortable or unsure about sitting next to a Trump-supporting academic at lunch."
- 82% of grad students discriminated against a backer of the former president in at least one of six instances posed to them in a series of questions.
- Just 1 in 10 academics support the "firing" of "controversial professors."
- 12% of academics "openly admitted" to discriminating against conservative "paper submissions" and "promotion applications;" 20% said they did the same to right-leaning grants.
The study results from a survey sent in August 2020 to 40,000 academics across top collegiate institutions did not include a margin of error.
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