‘Impossible lack of diversity’ reflects ideological intimidation on campus
It’s not every day that left-leaning academics admit that they would discriminate against a minority.
But that was what they did in a peer-reviewed study of political diversity in the field of social psychology, which will be published in the September edition of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Psychologists Yoel Inbar and Joris Lammers, based at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, surveyed a roughly representative sample of academics and scholars in social psychology and found that “In decisions ranging from paper reviews to hiring, many social and personality psychologists admit that they would discriminate against openly conservative colleagues.”
This finding surprised the researchers. The survey questions “were so blatant that I thought we’d get a much lower rate of agreement,” Mr. Inbar said. “Usually you have to be pretty tricky to get people to say they’d discriminate against minorities.”
One question, according to the researchers, “asked whether, in choosing between two equally qualified job candidates for one job opening, they would be inclined to vote for the more liberal candidate (i.e., over the conservative).”
More than a third of the respondents said they would discriminate against the conservative candidate. One respondent wrote in that if department members “could figure out who was a conservative, they would be sure not to hire them.”
Mr. Inbar, who volunteered for the Obama campaign in 2008, cautions that the finding reflects only what respondents said they would do — not necessarily what they actually would do in real life.
Generally speaking, the more liberal the respondent, the more willingness to discriminate and, paradoxically, the higher the assumption that conservatives do not face a hostile climate in the academy.
[from some of my favorite folks]
“There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.” – George Orwell
Obi-Wan: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. – anon.
I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. – Ripley
Once more, lots of research money and effort spent to discover the obvious.
Not really.
What is more concerning is that they are open and willing to admit it. This isn’t just a silent “I like this guy” or “I think I’d work better w ith a liberal”. This is an open, blatant, and conscious decision to state that they will not employ liberals.
Of course, given the number of people I read that say “liberalism is a mental disorder”, I’d say that this goes both ways.
I’d like to see a similar survey of conservative academics…if you can find enough.
Look in the engineering college and you will find plenty. I even got a lecture from my mathematical modelling professor about exactly why anyone who trusts a climate model is an idiot.