Liberal Bias in Higher Education

The idea that colleges and universities lean to the left is not a new one. However, a recent study has shown that, in a survey of 1,643 full-time faculty at 183 four-year schools, 72% consider themselves liberal, while only 15% identify as conservative. This, of course, has resulted in a great number of people (on both sides of the fence) getting their panties in a twist and jumping to conclusions.

While the study has confirmed that a student is more likely to have a liberal professor (especially in the arts [performing, visual, and music], english, humanities, and science), I am of the opinion that we need more information before we can decide exactly what this tidbit actually means.

We know that this is occurring. Now we need to find out why, and what effect(s) it has on the population.

Does it mean that colleges and universities actively discriminate against conservatives who are trying to enter the field, or are conservatives simply not going into education? Does it mean that professors are forcing their beliefs upon their students, or do they keep their opinions to themselves? Were the professors liberal before they began teaching, or did they become more progressive as time went on? Is it some combination of factors?

At this point in time, none of these questions can be answered, yet many people seem to be forgetting this. I'm going to make an attempt to look into some of the possibilities, but please remember that I am not touting any of these claims as truth.

( In which I attempt to ponder the why and how of the situation. )

The irony of this situation is that now certain conservatives are calling for a solution to this issue. Namely, they want affirmative action. Of course whenever the issue is discussed concerning race, they respond that if a business does not want to hire a black employee, they should have that right. However, if a private university doesn't want to hire a conservative professor, they should be forced to by law?

Buh?

I suppose that all this really proves is that human beings make absolutely no sense.