SF Chronicle:"Political activism has drawn UC into an academic death spiral"

[sakky]

<p>

Political activism has drawn the University of California into an academic death spiral. Too many professors believe their job is to “advance social justice” rather than teach the subject they were hired to teach. Groupthink has replaced lively debate. Institutions that were designed to stir intellectual curiosity aren’t challenging young minds…</p>

<p>…In 2004, for example, researchers examined the voter registration of UC Berkeley faculty. They found a ratio of 8 Democrats for each Republican. While the ratio was 4:1 in the professional schools, in more political disciplines, the ratio rose to 17:1 in the humanities and 21:1 in social sciences. Over the last few decades, the imbalance has grown. The report (found at sfg.ly/HjXiyV) noted, “The most plausible explanation for this clear and consistent pattern is surely that it is the result of discrimination in the hiring process.”…"

</p>

<p>[University</a> echo chamber drowns out diverse voices](<a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/30/INLN1MNUVT.DTL]University”>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/30/INLN1MNUVT.DTL)</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>How profound…a college faculty is mostly liberal. What else is new?</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>Nothing especially new… a conservative columnist citing a conservative organization’s study that college faculty is mostly liberal. Especially given the location in the San Francisco bay area, and conservative politicians’ promotion of ideologies like creationism (what biology professor would agree with that?) or petty prejudices based on religion or sexual orientation (not something that a humanities or social studies professor would likely subscribe to).</p>

<p>Of course, both the mission of a state university and the jobs of employees who work at it are also generally seen as threatened by budget cuts more commonly seen as being driven by conservative politics.</p>