Bias in Academia
01/12/11 Filed in: Academia
There is no point in arguing that there isn’t a liberal bias in academia. Try finding a volunteer to advise the student Republican Club in any humanities department—especially if they want someone who is an actual Republican. But there is no reason to see conspiracy or group think at more than their ordinary levels.
An element of bias is inevitable as long a people are influenced by their economic interests. (And I cannot think of an academic, of whatever political stripe, who thinks those interests do not influence all people--except, perhaps, themselves.)
Most educational institutions are state-supported and very few forego all government funding. Their employees therefore have a very personal but rarely articulated economic interest in what might be called “big government” policies. “Big government” puts food on their tables. Those in the truly private industries—i.e., those that don't rely on government business or subsidies—see government primarily as the tax collector. It takes hard-earned food off their tables.
This bias cannot be eliminated, but it can be acknowledged. Just as professors who receive funding from corporations need to acknowledge that fact, all professors need to say—out loud—“my opinions are arrived at independently, but they are funded by the taxing power of the state.”
An element of bias is inevitable as long a people are influenced by their economic interests. (And I cannot think of an academic, of whatever political stripe, who thinks those interests do not influence all people--except, perhaps, themselves.)
Most educational institutions are state-supported and very few forego all government funding. Their employees therefore have a very personal but rarely articulated economic interest in what might be called “big government” policies. “Big government” puts food on their tables. Those in the truly private industries—i.e., those that don't rely on government business or subsidies—see government primarily as the tax collector. It takes hard-earned food off their tables.
This bias cannot be eliminated, but it can be acknowledged. Just as professors who receive funding from corporations need to acknowledge that fact, all professors need to say—out loud—“my opinions are arrived at independently, but they are funded by the taxing power of the state.”