I’ve been trying to understand the underlying dynamics that’s driving the leftward trend in academia and have not been able to find much online.
Since I wrote that, I came across Why Are Professors Liberal? with Neil Gross
(a talk based on his 2013 book) which presents evidence that at least as of 2013, professors were mostly liberal due to self-selection: liberals tended to see academia as a suitable career choice more than conservatives (possibly due to some historically contingent reasons which then became self-reinforcing).
But since that book/video was released, the leftward trend in academia has accelerated, which I still haven’t found a great explanation for, but my guess is that it’s due to a combination of (1) increasing virtue signaling makes academia seem even less suitable for those who aren’t left leaning and (2) more explicit or barely concealed discrimination based on ideology.
My economics department is hiring a macroeconomist this year. A huge number of applicants are submitting statements of teaching and diversity in which they describe how if hired they will promote diversity in their teaching.
Since I wrote that, I came across Why Are Professors Liberal? with Neil Gross (a talk based on his 2013 book) which presents evidence that at least as of 2013, professors were mostly liberal due to self-selection: liberals tended to see academia as a suitable career choice more than conservatives (possibly due to some historically contingent reasons which then became self-reinforcing).
But since that book/video was released, the leftward trend in academia has accelerated, which I still haven’t found a great explanation for, but my guess is that it’s due to a combination of (1) increasing virtue signaling makes academia seem even less suitable for those who aren’t left leaning and (2) more explicit or barely concealed discrimination based on ideology.
My economics department is hiring a macroeconomist this year. A huge number of applicants are submitting statements of teaching and diversity in which they describe how if hired they will promote diversity in their teaching.