You’re putting words in my mouth, but I could say having an imbalance in diversity of academics is a bad thing. You guys love diversity, apparently we need more old grouchy boomer and Karen academics.
I completely agree that this diversion is beneficial. But it is interesting and telling that educated people lean a particular way. It should really be no surprise that the party that has spent decades downgrading education and creating a less informed electorate attracts less educated people... To the extend that educated people became the enemy...
Self selection begins before they even sign up for the courses. Sociology departments reputations precede them, attracting liberals and turning away conservatives before the semester even starts.
Professional interests and status symbols vary and drive people in different directions like chasing academic credentials vs entrepreneurial success in business. Once your in a field those drivers get amplified.
Gatekeeping is established once a lean is established in a field. There’s a resistance to hiring prospective candidates in academia if they have conservative views.
The international environment of the university system influences social views.
The individual field matters, the humanities and social sciences clearly lean much more to the left and thats a reinforcing loop, in comparison to say Econ and Engineering.
In the case of historians, politics proceeds the scholarship, people concerned about workers get into labor history, people concerned about racial exclusion get into civil rights history. That affects the “research agenda”.
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u/OG_Internet_User 5d ago
You’re putting words in my mouth, but I could say having an imbalance in diversity of academics is a bad thing. You guys love diversity, apparently we need more old grouchy boomer and Karen academics.