Political issues in higher education in the United States

Last updated

Higher education in the United States is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. Higher education, also referred to as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education occurs most commonly at one of the 4,360 Title IV degree-granting institutions, either colleges or universities in the country. [1] These may be public universities, private universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. US higher education is loosely regulated by several third-party organizations.

Contents

Within this vast estate many issues arise for government, staff and students.

Political views

Research since the 1970s has consistently found that professors are more liberal and Democratic than the general population. [2] [3] [4]

A 2007 Zogby poll found that 58% of Americans thought that college professors' political bias was a "serious problem". This varied depending on the political views of those asked. 91% of "very conservative" adults agreed compared with 3% of liberals. [5]

Self-reported political views of U.S. academic faculty (% by year), according to the HERI Faculty Survey reports 1990–2017 [6]

A nationwide study conducted every three years by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) of UCLA shows that from 1989 to 2014 professors identifying as liberal or far-left increasingly outnumbered those identifying as conservative or far-right. [7] [8] [9] The shift from 2014 to 2017 was less extreme than prior years, with numbers standing at approximately 60% liberal/far-left, 28% moderate, and 12% conservative/far-right. [7] According to an article published in Academe, the impact of having more liberal professors meant that fewer conservative students were likely to pursue advanced or doctoral degrees. [10] According to Stephen Hayward, the fewer conservative professors results in fewer conservative students being mentored and supported to seek graduate level education, creating a "self-reinforcing" cycle. [11]

In 2012, Tilburg University psychologists Yoel Inbar and Joris Lammers conducted anonymous random surveys of 800 members of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and found that 85% of respondents self-identified as liberal and 6% self-identified as conservative. Respondents that self-identified as either conservative or moderate were found to be significantly more reluctant to express their political views to their colleagues for fear of negative consequences, and were more likely to believe that their colleagues would actively discriminate against them on the basis of their political beliefs. [12]

In January 2015, a major literature review co-written by psychologists José L. Duarte, Jarret T. Crawford, Jonathan Haidt, Lee Jussim, Philip E. Tetlock and sociologist Charlotta Stern summarized numerous studies of how academic psychology has little ideological diversity, that the ratio of liberal-to-conservative or Democratic-to-Republican professors has dramatically increased since 1990, that the disparity is undermining the quality of research in psychology, and that the main causes of the lack of ideological diversity are self-selection, hostile climate, and discrimination. [13]

In September 2016, a replication and extension of the 2012 Inbar and Lammers study conducted by psychologists Nathan Honeycutt and Laura Freberg surveyed 618 faculty members of four California State University campuses and confirmed the previous finding of a hostile climate towards conservative professors in academic psychology departments, but also extended their study to 76 other academic departments spanning agricultural, business, education, arts and letters, engineering, and science colleges and found that there are sizable percentages of professors willing to discriminate against conservative academics in every academic department that they surveyed. [14]

Student conservative groups, free speech, and hate speech

Turning Point USA is a conservative youth group formed by Charlie Kirk in 2012. The organization has a presence on hundreds of US campuses. [15] [16] [17] In 2016, Turning Point USA began publishing its Professor Watchlist to expose faculty who they claim "discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." [18] [19] [20] [21] Charlie Kirk, TPUSA's president, has criticized college campuses as "islands of totalitarianism" filled with liberal students and faculty members who force their worldview upon those around them. [22]

In December 2018, the University of California, Berkeley settled a free speech lawsuit filed by the Berkeley College Republicans and Young America's Foundation, accusing the university of discriminating against speakers with conservative views. Under the settlement, Berkeley will modify its procedures for handling "major events", which typically draw hundreds of people, and agreed not to charge "security" fees for a variety of activities, including lectures and speeches. It will also pay $70,000 to cover the legal costs of the plaintiffs. [23]

The Anti-Defamation League verified more than 300 incidents of white nationalist propaganda at more than 200 college and university campuses in 2018. [24]

On March 21, 2019, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to protect campus free speech. [25] According to President Trump, "Under the guise of speech codes, safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans..." [26] He added that "Taxpayer dollars should not subsidize anti–First Amendment institutions...." [27]

Political lobbying

This section is an excerpt from For-profit higher education in the United States § Politics and political lobbying.[ edit ]
Politics and lobbying play a significant part in the history of U.S. for-profit school growth. [28] [29] The for-profit education industry has spent more than $40 million on lobbying from 2007 to 2012. [30] and $36 million since 2010. [31] For-profit education lobbying grew from $83,000 in 1990 to approximately $4.5 million in its peak year of 2012. [32] In 2019, colleges and universities spent almost $75 million in federal lobbies. [33] The most significant industry lobby is Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU), previously known as The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (ASPCU). Before 2010, the organization was known as the Career College Association. [34] The Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom also supports for-profit higher education. [35] [36]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College of Staten Island</span> Public college in Staten Island, New York

The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studies lead to bachelor's and associate degrees. The master's degree is awarded in 13 professional and liberal arts and sciences fields of study. A clinical doctorate is awarded by the department of physical therapy. The college participates in doctoral programs of the CUNY Graduate Center in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, nursing, physics, and psychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex University</span> Public university in Middlesex, London, England

Middlesex University London is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is derived from its location within the historic county boundaries of Middlesex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberystwyth University</span> University in Wales

Aberystwyth University is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic faculties and 17 departments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression</span> American free speech organization

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly called the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the mission of protecting freedom of speech on college campuses in the United States. FIRE changed its name in June 2022, when it broadened its focus from colleges to freedom of speech throughout American society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DePaul University</span> Private university in Chicago, Illinois, US

DePaul University is a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Catholic university in terms of enrollment in North America. Following in the footsteps of its founders, DePaul places special emphasis on recruiting first-generation students and others from disadvantaged backgrounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Dallas</span> Catholic university in Irving, Texas, US

The University of Dallas is a private Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Buckingham</span> Private university in Buckinghamshire, UK

The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university in Buckingham, England and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (UCB) in 1973, admitting its first students in 1976. It was granted university status by royal charter in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the Andes (Colombia)</span> Colombian university

The University of the Andes, also commonly self-styled as Uniandes, is a private research university located in the city centre of Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1948 by a group of Colombian intellectuals led by Mario Laserna Pinzón, it was the first Colombian university established as nonsectarian.

TheUniversity of Law is a private for-profit university in the United Kingdom, providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law, business, psychology, criminology, policing and computer science. It also provides postgraduate courses in education, and specialist legal training and continuing professional development courses for British barristers, solicitors and trainees; it is the United Kingdom's largest law school. It traces its origins to 1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higher education in the United States</span> Education beyond high school

In the United States, higher education is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. It is also referred to as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 on the International ISCED 2011 scale. It is delivered at 3,931 Title IV degree-granting institutions, known as colleges or universities. These may be public or private universities, research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. U.S. higher education is loosely regulated by the government and by several third-party organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Association of Scholars</span> American advocacy nonprofit interested in education

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit politically conservative education advocacy organization. It advocates against multiculturalism, diversity policies, and against courses focused on race and gender issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions</span>

The James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, often called simply the James Madison Program or the Madison Program, is a scholarly institute within the Department of Politics at Princeton University espousing a dedication "to exploring enduring questions of American constitutional law and Western political thought." The Madison Program was founded in 2000 and is directed by Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeastern University – London</span> University in London, England

Northeastern University – London is a public university in London, England. It was founded in 2010 as New College of the Humanities by the philosopher A. C. Grayling, who became its first Master. The college originally specialized in the humanities, social sciences, and master's degrees at the intersection of the humanities and technology. In February 2019 the college was acquired by Northeastern University, a private American research university based in Boston, Massachusetts, and rebranded as NCH at Northeastern. A year later, in February 2020, NCH at Northeastern was granted its own taught degree awarding powers. It was awarded university title and changed its name to "Northeastern University – London" after regulatory approval by the Office for Students in July 2022.

Academic bias is the bias or perceived bias of scholars allowing their beliefs to shape their research and the scientific community. It can refer to several types of scholastic prejudice, e.g., logocentrism, phonocentrism, ethnocentrism or the belief that some sciences and disciplines rank higher than others.

For-profit higher education in the United States refers to the commercialization and privatization of American higher education institutions. For-profit colleges have been the most recognizable for-profit institutions, and more recently with online program managers, but commercialization has been part of US higher education for centuries. Privatization of public institutions has been increasing since at least the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turning Point USA</span> American conservative non-profit organization

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. It was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery. TPUSA's affiliate groups include Turning Point Endowment, Turning Point Action and TPUSA Faith. TPUSA has been described as the fastest growing organization of campus chapters in America, and according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, is the dominant force in campus conservatism.

The political views of American academics began to receive attention in the 1930s, and investigation into faculty political views expanded rapidly after the rise of McCarthyism. Demographic surveys of faculty that began in the 1950s and continue to the present have found higher percentages of liberals than of conservatives, particularly among those who work in the humanities and social sciences. Researchers and pundits disagree about survey methodology and about the interpretations of the findings.

<i>Campus Reform</i> US conservative news website

Campus Reform is an American conservative news website focused on higher education. It is operated by the Leadership Institute. It uses students as reporters. The news site is known for conservative journalism, where it reports incidents of liberal bias and restrictions on free speech on American college campuses. The online publication maintains running list of "victories"—ranging from college policy changes to firings—on a dry-erase board at the website's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters inside the Leadership Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professor Watchlist</span> Database of academics claimed to discriminate against conservative students

Professor Watchlist is a website, run by conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA, that lists academic staff which Turning Point believes "discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." It was launched in 2016 and had listed about 200 professors by December of that year. The website erroneously claimed that Hunter Biden would "assist in lecturing a course" at Tulane University in the fall semester of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heterodox Academy</span> American advocacy group

Heterodox Academy (HxA) is a non-profit advocacy group of academics working to counteract what they see as a lack of viewpoint diversity on college campuses, especially by encouraging political diversity. The organization was founded in 2015 by Jonathan Haidt, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, and Chris C. Martin.

References

  1. ↑ "Degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by control and level of institution: Selected years, 1949-50 through 2016-17". NCES. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ Everett Carll Ladd and Seymour Martin Lipset, Academics, politics, and the 1972 election (1973)
  3. ↑ Schuster, Jack; Finkelstein, Martin (2008), The American Faculty: The Restructuring of Academic Work and Careers, Johns Hopkins University Press, p. 600, ISBN   978-0801891038
  4. ↑ Menand, Louis (2010). The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University. Norton. p. 176. ISBN   978-0393339161.
  5. ↑ Zogby Poll: Most Think Political Bias Among College Professors a Serious Problem Archived October 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , July 10, 2007
  6. ↑ "HERI Faculty Surveys (1989–2017)". Higher Education Research Institute . Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Abrams, Samuel J. (March 15, 2019). "The Slowing of Higher Education's Liberal Slide". RealClearPolicy . Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  8. ↑ Jaschik, Scott (October 24, 2012). "Moving Further to the Left". Inside Higher Ed. Washington, DC. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Study: College Professors Continue Shift To 'Far Left' Stance". WNEW. Washington, DC. October 25, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ Woessner, Matthew (2012). "Rethinking the Plight of Conservatives in Higher Education". Academe. Washington, DC: American Association of University Professors. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ Nong, Eric (December 4, 2014). "Why Do So Few Conservatives Work in Higher Education?". The Wilson Quarterly. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ Inbar, Yoel; Lammers, Joris (September 5, 2012), "Political Diversity in Social and Personality Psychology" (PDF), Perspectives on Psychological Science , 7 (5), SAGE Publications: 496–503, doi:10.1177/1745691612448792, PMID   26168506, S2CID   23012460 , retrieved January 20, 2017
  13. ↑ Duarte, José L.; Crawford, Jarret T.; Stern, Charlotta; Haidt, Jonathan; Jussim, Lee; Tetlock, Philip E. (January 2015), "Political diversity will improve social psychological science" (PDF), Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 38, Cambridge University Press: e130, doi:10.1017/S0140525X14000430, PMID   25036715 , retrieved January 20, 2017
  14. ↑ Honeycutt, Nathan; Freberg, Laura (September 21, 2016). "The Liberal and Conservative Experience Across Academic Disciplines". Social Psychological and Personality Science. 8 (2): 115–123. doi:10.1177/1948550616667617. S2CID   151750618.
  15. ↑ Vasquez, Michael (April 6, 2018). "5 Takeaways From Turning Point's Plan to 'Commandeer' Campus Elections" – via The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  16. ↑ "Allegations of Racial Bias and Illegal Campaign Activity at a Conservative Nonprofit That Seeks to Transform College Campuses". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Who Funds Conservative Campus Group Turning Point USA? Donors Revealed". International Business Times. November 28, 2017.
  18. ↑ McGhee, Kaylee (June 21, 2018). "Charlie Kirk and TPUSA aren't conservative, as real conservatives already knew".
  19. ↑ Pappano, Laura (August 4, 2017). "Professors as Targets of Internet Outrage". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  20. ↑ Mele, Christopher (November 28, 2016). "Professor Watchlist Is Seen as Threat to Academic Freedom". The New York Times . Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  21. ↑ Strauss, Valerie (December 14, 2016). "'The sort of company we wish to keep': More than 1,500 academics ask to join controversial 'Professor Watchlist'". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  22. ↑ Glatter, Hayley (May 12, 2017). "Student-Government Politics and Identity Politics: This Week's Top 7 Education Stories". Theatlantic.com. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  23. ↑ Stempel, Jonathon (December 3, 2018). "UC Berkeley settles lawsuit over treatment of conservative speakers". Reuters. Retrieved December 8, 2018. Justice Department official Jesse Panuccio applauded the settlement in a statement on Monday, calling it a "win for protecting free speech on public college campuses."
  24. ↑ "Analysis finds increase in white supremacist propaganda on college campuses". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  25. ↑ "President Trump vows to issue executive order barring research funds to colleges that don't support free speech". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  26. ↑ Shaw, Adam (March 21, 2019). "Trump signs executive order to promote free speech on college campuses". Fox News. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  27. ↑ Harris, Adam (March 21, 2019). "Trump's Redundant Executive Order on Campus Speech". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Friends In High Places: Who Endorses America's Troubled For-Profit Colleges? – Republic Report". republicreport.org. June 21, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  29. ↑ Angulo, A.J. (2016). Diploma Mills: How For-Profit Colleges Stiffed Students, Taxpayers, and the American Dream. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   9781421420073 . Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  30. ↑ "For-Profit Colleges Spending Millions On Lobbying, Nearly $40 Million Since 2007". The Huffington Post. August 30, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  31. ↑ "For-profit Education: Lobbying, 2014". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  32. ↑ "For-profit Education: Long-Term Contribution Trends | OpenSecrets". opensecrets.org. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Higher Ed Spending On Lobbying Declines". Public Affairs Council. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  34. ↑ "Seeking a fresh start, battered for-profit colleges give themselves a new name – The Hechinger Report". hechingerreport.org. June 6, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  35. ↑ Neal McCluskey (January 13, 2015). "Even for-profit universities are better than America's terrible community colleges". Washington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  36. ↑ McCluskey, Neal (January 19, 2015). "How for-profits beat community colleges". Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.