Liberal Universities: Conservative Students Face Discrimination?

There is a perception among conservative students that liberal universities discriminate against them. This perception is more widely shared by conservative Americans today than it was in the past. While there is evidence of a liberal bias in universities, it is simplistic to draw a direct connection between this and discrimination against conservative students.

Research has shown that conservative students tend to have less close relationships with faculty than liberal students, and there is a small gap between the grades assigned to liberal and conservative students. However, this gap is very small—less than one-tenth of a point on a 4-point scale.

While there may be some bias in grading, it is not severe enough to significantly impact the grades of conservative students. In fact, conservative students tend to enjoy college more than liberal students and perform nearly as well as their liberal counterparts.

Do liberal professors discriminate against conservative students in grading?

Many conservative students fear that their professors will punish them for their political and cultural views if they were to express them in class discussions or assignments, and so choose to self-censor. This fear is understandable given the lack of ideological diversity among professors, especially in social research fields where the ratio of left-leaning to right-leaning professors is roughly 10:1.

However, while liberal professors may demonstrate bias in their off-topic comments or public-facing essays and social media posts, a recent study found that this bias does not seem to be reflected in grading. The study, which examined the backgrounds, affiliations, and institutional perceptions of more than 7,200 undergraduate students, found that while liberal students do tend to have closer relationships with faculty than conservative students, the gap in grades between liberal and conservative students was very small: less than one-tenth of a point on a 4-point scale.

Instructors generally do not want to stand in the way of their students' career goals, and so may even inflate grades and lower workloads and standards to allow students to pass through their classes with minimal friction. Additionally, instructors may not take disagreements with undergraduates particularly seriously, writing off differences in perspectives as products of students' relative youth and inexperience.

While there is evidence of ideological discrimination by professors in PhD admissions, peer review, institutional review boards, faculty hiring and promotion, etc., grading does not appear to be a major way in which this bias expresses itself.

Do liberal professors discriminate against conservative students in course content?

It is a common perception among conservative students that their professors are liberal and biased against them. While there is a clear liberal skew among professors, there is little evidence to suggest that this translates to discrimination in course content or grading.

A recent study found that while conservative students tended to have slightly lower GPAs than liberal students, the difference was very small—less than one-tenth of a point on a 4-point scale. This suggests that while professors may have a slight bias in grading, they do not severely punish or reward students based on their political leanings.

However, it is important to note that professors rarely assign readings by conservative or libertarian intellectuals and often make off-topic comments or go on rants against conservative figures. This can create an intimidating environment for conservative students, who may choose to self-censor rather than express their views in class discussions or assignments.

Additionally, there is evidence of ideological discrimination in other areas of academia, such as PhD admissions, peer review, and faculty hiring and promotion. Conservative students who decide to pursue academia after their bachelor's degree are likely to face more substantial discrimination in these areas.

Overall, while there may be a slight bias against conservative students in course content and grading, it does not appear to significantly impact their academic performance or satisfaction. However, the lack of ideological diversity among professors and the intimidation felt by conservative students are issues that warrant further attention and discussion.

Do liberal professors discriminate against conservative students in classroom discussions?

Many conservative students fear that their professors will discriminate against them for their political and cultural views if they express them in classroom discussions. This concern is understandable given the lack of ideological diversity among professors, especially in social research fields, where the ratio of liberals to conservatives is roughly 10:1. Professors rarely assign readings by conservative or libertarian intellectuals and often make off-topic jabs at Republicans, or even go on full-on rants.

However, a recent study found that while liberal students do tend to have closer relationships with faculty than conservative students, and there is a small gap between the grades assigned to liberal and conservative students, professors do not seem to be severely punishing or rewarding undergraduates based on their political leanings. The gap in grades is very small—less than one-tenth of a point on a 4-point scale.

While there may be a slight overall faculty bias against conservative students, the study's authors caution against "cherry-picking" their findings, which "do not paint a picture of conservative students under siege." Conservative students remain largely satisfied with their college education and perform nearly as well as their liberal counterparts. The study's authors conclude that while students' political views may play a small role in their overall grades, success in college is more associated with measures of merit and demographic variables.

Instructors generally do not want to stand in the way of their students' career goals and often inflate grades and lower their workloads and standards to allow students to flow through their classes with minimal friction. Additionally, faculty don't take disagreements with undergraduates very seriously and often write off differences in perspectives as products of students' relative youth, inexperience, and ignorance.

That being said, there is compelling evidence that professors do engage in ideological discrimination with respect to PhD admissions, peer review, institutional review boards, faculty hiring and promotion, etc.

Do conservative students self-censor in liberal universities?

There is a perception among conservative students that their professors will punish them for their political and cultural views if they were to express them in class discussions or assignments. This perception leads to self-censorship, with students choosing not to express their views.

A study by Matthew Woessner, Robert Maranto, and Amanda Thompson found that conservative students do get lower grade point averages, but the difference is small. After controlling for factors like socioeconomic status and SAT scores, the most conservative students earned grades that were less than a tenth of a grade point lower than those of the most liberal students on a conventional four-point scale. This is a small fraction of the difference between a B (a 3.0) and a B-plus (a 3.3).

The study also found that conservative students enjoy college more than liberals. Conservative students tend to have higher grades in math and natural science courses and are quite happy with both these subjects and the humanities and social sciences. Liberal students, meanwhile, really enjoy their humanities and social science courses but are less fond of their math and science courses.

The study's authors conclude that college is basically fair. They caution against cherry-picking their findings, which do not paint a picture of conservative students under siege. They write:

> [Conservative students] remain largely satisfied with their college education, and perform nearly as well as, if not better than, their liberal counterparts. While students’ political views may play a small role in their overall grades, success in college is more associated with measures of merit, and with demographic variables. Even if some students are the victims of unconscious bias in grading, these results suggest that academic readiness is a far more important predictor of success than students’ political views.

However, other studies have found that conservative students do self-censor. A 2019 survey by the Knight Foundation found that 68% of students felt silenced because their campus climate precluded them from expressing their true opinions for fear that their classmates might find them offensive. A 2018 Buckley Program at Yale survey of 800 undergraduates found that more than half reported they “often” felt intimidated by their peers. Breaking this down further, 62% of conservative students "often" felt silenced.

A 2019 Heterodox Academy survey of over 1500 students found that Republican students reported being more reluctant than Democrats and Independents to share their views on politics, race, sexuality, and gender.

The FIRE free speech survey of almost 20,000 college students in 2019 confirmed that self-censorship on campuses is prevalent: six out of ten students said they had kept quiet due to fear of how others would respond. The largest group that self-censored was "strong Republicans" (73%) and the lowest was "strong Democrats" (52%).

The FIRE report also found that conservative students at predominantly liberal institutions self-censor even when they rank the institution highly in terms of being open to speech. At the University of Chicago, which was ranked highly by both liberal and conservative students, less than half of the students reported self-censoring overall (44%). But when broken down by political leaning, 82% of conservatives reported holding back their views compared to 53% of moderates and 40% of liberals.

Faculty members also self-censor. A 2017 survey by Abrams of over 900 faculty found that two-thirds of conservative professors avoided sharing their opinions because of fear of negative reactions from students and peers, compared to just one-third of liberals.

Do conservative students perform worse in liberal universities?

There is a perception among conservative students that their professors will discriminate against them for their political and cultural views, and this fear often leads to self-censorship. While there is a lack of ideological diversity among professors, with a left-to-right ratio of roughly 10:1, and professors often express antipathy towards Republicans and conservatives, studies have shown that conservative students' grades are only slightly impacted by their political leanings.

A recent study of over 7,200 undergraduate students found that liberal students tend to have closer relationships with faculty than conservative students, and there was a small gap between the grades assigned to liberal and conservative students. However, this gap was very small—less than one-tenth of a point on a 4-point scale, which is less than the difference between a B (3.0) and a B-plus (3.1). While this suggests that professors may be slightly biased in grading, it indicates that they do not severely punish or reward students based on their political beliefs.

Another study of more than 7,000 students who attended four-year universities from 2009 to 2013 found that conservative students had lower GPAs than liberal students, but the difference was minimal. After controlling for factors like socioeconomic status and SAT scores, the researchers found that the most conservative students' grades were less than a tenth of a grade point lower than those of the most liberal students. This is a small fraction of the difference between a B and a B-plus. The study also found that conservative students enjoyed college more than liberals and had higher grades in math and natural science courses.

While there is evidence of a slight bias against conservative students in grading, it is important to note that this bias is not significant enough to severely impact their academic performance. Other factors, such as academic readiness, merit, and demographic variables, are much more important predictors of success. Additionally, conservative students may face more substantial discrimination in other areas of academia, such as PhD admissions, peer review, and faculty hiring and promotion.

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