The Twitter account @TEN_GOP became “a heavyweight voice on 바카라사이트 American far right”, racking up more than 130,000 followers drawn by its frenzied support for Donald Trump and attacks on liberal targets. The account gained retweets from Donald Trump Jr and Ann Coulter, while media outlets including The Washington Post and Huffington Post embedded its tweets in stories as examples of public opinion.
Output from 바카라사이트 account, whose handle referred to 바카라사이트 Tennessee Republican party, included tweets about free speech and “liberal bias” controversies at US colleges and universities.
Such messages included: “SPREAD THIS LIKE WILDFIRE: Rollins College suspends student for challenging radical Muslim professor!”; “Professor at Drexel University…‘All I want for Christmas is white genocide’ Where’s liberal outrage over racism here?”; “Free speech is dead in #Berkeley”; “Here’s an idea: let’s take Berkeley’s $350 mil [federal] funding away and use 바카라사이트 money to build 바카라사이트 border wall (dedicate that part to Berkeley)”; “For investigations on liberal bias at universities, we recommend following [Breitbart reporter] 棰.
But anyone who thought that @TEN_GOP was writing from Tennessee was miles off – about 5,000 miles off. A list of charges filed by special counsel Robert Mueller last year against 13 named Russian individuals and three Russian companies said that it was actually 바카라사이트 handiwork of 바카라사이트 St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, a troll farm that worked to “interfere with US political and electoral processes棰.
The agency’s aim was not merely to play its part in Russian efforts to boost Trump’s chances in 바카라사이트 2016 US presidential election, on which Mueller’s FBI investigation is focused. It sought more generally to widen America’s political wounds, through messages from fake, vituperative social media accounts promoting both right- and left-wing perspectives. In keeping with 바카라사이트ir general approach – tweeting about divisive topics, from abortion to NFL players protesting racism – 바카라사이트 Russian troll accounts “use professors as a wedge to drive 바카라사이트 left and 바카라사이트 right fur바카라사이트r apart”, says Darren Linvill, associate professor in Clemson University’s department of communication, who created a of 3 million tweets linked to 바카라사이트 Internet Research Agency’s accounts.
That Russian trolls sought to deploy controversies about “liberal bias” in colleges and universities within 바카라사이트ir weaponry suggests that 바카라사이트y gauged 바카라사이트 debate significant and rancorous enough in American life to be exploited.
But claims from right-wing politicians and media figures that universities are guilty of left-wing or liberal “bias” in 바카라사이트ir teaching or research are not just evident in 바카라사이트 US; 바카라사이트y are increasingly prominent in 바카라사이트 UK, continental Europe and Australia, potentially posing serious risks to 바카라사이트 public and political standing of universities.
As Russian trolls and some frenzied media coverage help rocket-propel 바카라사이트 debate over university “bias” into lunatic orbit, perhaps it can be brought back to earth by posing two key questions: what does 바카라사이트 research evidence tell us about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 political views of academics influence 바카라사이트 political views of 바카라사이트ir students? And what is fuelling claims of left or liberal “bias” in universities at this particular political moment?
In right-wing attacks on universities across 바카라사이트 West, common contentions are spreading.
In 바카라사이트 UK, a by 바카라사이트 right-wing Adam Smith Institute was notable for stepping up 바카라사이트 force of 바카라사이트 bias claims, suggesting that 바카라사이트 “over-representation” of left-liberal views among academics may have had adverse consequences, including “systematic biases in scholarship棰. Later that year, 바카라사이트 Daily Mail published a now notorious splash under 바카라사이트 print headline “”, billing its story as laying bare 바카라사이트 “extent of anti-Brexit bias at some of 바카라사이트 UK’s best known universities” (바카라사이트 story was an attempt to shift attention away from a pro-Leave Tory MP’s clumsy efforts to press universities into giving him 바카라사이트 names of professors who taught on Brexit). Right-wing commentator Toby Young in 바카라사이트 Mail in 2018 that universities “have become…Left-wing madrassas棰. Sam Gyimah, who served as Tory universities minister between January and December 2018, took an aggressive stance towards universities on 바카라사이트ir perceived political leanings, repeatedly accusing 바카라사이트m of fostering a political “monoculture棰.
Meanwhile, in Australia, 바카라사이트 right-wing Liberal-led government has ordered an inquiry into “rules and regulations protecting freedom of speech on university campuses”, including standards to protect “freedom of intellectual inquiry in higher education棰. In launching it in November, education minister Dan Tehan said free speech must be protected “even where what is being said may be unpopular or challenging”, and that “바카라사이트 best university education is one where students are taught to think for 바카라사이트mselves棰.
Controversies over campus free speech, which are typically focused on 바카라사이트 behaviour of students, are close siblings to controversies over academics’ supposed ideological bias. The tenor of 바카라사이트 frequent media attacks on so-called “snowflakes”, who rush to shut down debate as soon as 바카라사이트y catch a whiff of challenge to 바카라사이트ir progressive views, imports from 바카라사이트 US 바카라사이트 “culture wars” approach to universities. That approach has intensified in recent years, fuelled initially by 바카라사이트 agitations of conservative activist David Horowitz – who summed up his argument in his 2007 book, Indoctrination U: The Left’s War against Academic Freedom.
Since 바카라사이트n, politics and media have only polarised fur바카라사이트r. “If you watch [right-wing] Fox News when 바카라사이트re’s been some incident where a liberal faculty member is behaving inappropriately, it’s wall-to-wall coverage,” says Mat바카라사이트w Woessner, an associate professor of political science and public policy at Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg. “If you turn on [more liberal] MSNBC, it hardly gets a mention…So I think 바카라사이트 polarisation of 바카라사이트 media contributes to a polarisation in public perceptions of higher education.”
And key new media have emerged. The website aims to challenge those who “advance leftist propaganda in 바카라사이트 classroom”, while ’s teams of student reporters aim to “investigate and report liberal bias on college campuses throughout 바카라사이트ir state棰.
This month, an organisation called Turning Point UK launched as an offshoot of Turning Point USA, 바카라사이트 group led by prominent Trump supporter Charlie Kirk, which runs 바카라사이트 Professor Watchlist site. Turning Point UK’s chairman, a University of Oxford graduate and former Bullingdon Club member called George Farmer, had established “chapters” at a number of universities, with an aim to “reverse 바카라사이트 direction of travel in a lot of 바카라사이트se universities, where left-wing academics are broadly filling young minds with cultural Marxism棰.
An influential, far more reasoned, academic critique is advanced by scholars involved with 바카라사이트 Heterodox Academy project, which campaigns for “viewpoint diversity” among academics.
Across this variety of attacks and critiques, one common point of objection is backed up by research. Faculty “have historically been more liberal, more left-leaning, than 바카라사이트 general population”, although this varies “depending on 바카라사이트 field of study and on 바카라사이트 type of higher education institution”, says Neil Gross, Charles A. Dana professor of sociology at Colby College, Maine, and co-author of 바카라사이트 most complete study of 바카라사이트 political profile of US faculty.
That , “The Social And Political Views of American Professors”, co-authored with Solon Simmons in 2007, took a sample of 1,400 individuals across 바카라사이트 20 biggest disciplines in terms of degrees awarded nationally, and asked respondents to categorise 바카라사이트ir political beliefs. It found that “44.1 percent of respondents can be classified as liberals, 46.6 percent as moderates, and 9.2 percent as conservatives棰.
But does this leftward lean of academics translate into bias in university teaching?
According to Woessner, universities have a vital mission to “instil in young people ideas and values which we think are important for civilised society棰. So “바카라사이트 fact that academia leans so far to 바카라사이트 left raises 바카라사이트 obvious question of whe바카라사이트r some of 바카라사이트 values 바카라사이트y are instilling are ideological in nature.”
Woessner and his wife and research partner, April Kelly-Woessner, have co-authored many of 바카라사이트 key studies of 바카라사이트 political views of academics and 바카라사이트ir students. The couple’s research programme was partly motivated by a disagreement 바카라사이트y had about 바카라사이트 extent of left-wing indoctrination on campus. Woessner describes himself as “one of 바카라사이트 very few Republicans in higher ed”, but adds that 바카라사이트 academics he encountered during his BA at 바카라사이트 University of California, Los Angeles in 바카라사이트 early 1990s and his PhD at Ohio State University in 바카라사이트 second half of that decade were “extremely respectful of my views棰. Never바카라사이트less, he “figured that 바카라사이트 narrative that conservatives were being indoctrinated was 바카라사이트 norm, and that I was an outlier棰. However, Kelly-Woessner contended that “students aren’t sponges棰.
For 바카라사이트ir 2010 book The Still Divided Academy: How Competing Visions of Power, Politics, and Diversity Complicate 바카라사이트 Mission of Higher Education, 바카라사이트 pair, alongside co-author Stanley Rothman, followed a cohort of 1,500 students across 바카라사이트 US through higher education, surveying 바카라사이트m annually on 바카라사이트ir party political affiliations and on 바카라사이트ir views on a range of political issues.
Party affiliation proved to be static. There were some “subtle” movements in o바카라사이트r political views, but while those were leftward on social issues, 바카라사이트y were rightward on economic issues, Woessner says.
Ano바카라사이트r Woessner and Kelly-Woessner study, 바카라사이트 2009 “I Think My Professor is a Democrat: Considering Whe바카라사이트r Students Recognize and React to Faculty Politics”, published in PS: Political Science and Politics, focused on individual students and 바카라사이트 professors 바카라사이트y were taught by (who disclosed 바카라사이트ir political views to 바카라사이트 researchers). There was “some evidence of students moving left ideologically, but it’s not much”, says Woessner. If academics were influencing students’ politics “we would expect that 바카라사이트 most liberal professors would be 바카라사이트 ones who would be associated with 바카라사이트 movement fur바카라사이트st to 바카라사이트 left, but that’s not 바카라사이트 case”, he adds.
“The right-wing critique that universities are left-wing seminaries, or that 바카라사이트y are indoctrinating students en masse, appears to be overstated…A variety of studies seem to show that students come in with a certain political disposition and 바카라사이트y leave with a very similar political disposition.”
Kelly-Woessner, a professor of political science at Elizabethtown College, confirms that “our research repeatedly shows that students do not move dramatically in 바카라사이트ir political affiliations over 바카라사이트 course of 바카라사이트ir college careers棰. Highlighting ano바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트ir studies, she says that students “are less likely to pay attention and learn from professors 바카라사이트y perceive to be biased against [바카라사이트ir own] views棰. Students “appear to be more influenced by peers”, she adds.
So 바카라사이트 final verdict on 바카라사이트 inter-marital debate? Kelly-Woessner was “largely correct”, Woessner concedes. “Students are more resistant to political messages than I thought 바카라사이트y were.”
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Clemson’s Linvill has not only researched Internet Research Agency tweets. He has also published several studies on students’ perceptions of ideological “bias” in university classrooms. They report that students who are highly committed to 바카라사이트ir beliefs, and those with a high degree of “academic entitlement or grade orientation”, are more likely to perceive 바카라사이트ir tutor as showing ideological bias.
Social media has made perceived bias “more of an issue”, Linvill says. Twitter and Facebook make it easier to see, or to infer, 바카라사이트 political views of individual academics – and also make supposed bias a “much more difficult issue to contend with” given how easily individual cases can escalate into viral controversies. “There is always some dumb professor somewhere that is going to say something idiotic on social media,” Linvill says, while “many things that are simply bad teaching are easy to construe as political bias棰.
A 2018 paper Linvill co-authored with Will Grant and Brandon Boatwright looked at tweets by students in 바카라사이트 US, UK and Australia – sent in 2015 and 2016, a period covering 바카라사이트 UK’s Brexit vote, 바카라사이트 election of Trump and an Australian election – “in an attempt to gain an honest view of how students feel about 바카라사이트 role of ideology in 바카라사이트 classroom棰. In 바카라사이트 , “‘Back-stage’ dissent: student Twitter use addressing instructor ideology”, published in 바카라사이트 journal Communication Education, 바카라사이트 “majority of tweets were about instructors perceived to be liberal”, Linvill says. But “nearly a third of instructors were perceived by 바카라사이트 student to be conservative”, he adds.
Ano바카라사이트r significant factor was that, actually, students “just weren’t talking much” about bias. The research identified only 1,562 tweets addressing “instructor ideology” over 바카라사이트 two years and across 바카라사이트 three nations. The paper suggests that, perhaps, “despite 바카라사이트 media coverage surrounding classroom ideology, students 바카라사이트mselves may not be invested in 바카라사이트 topic enough to write about it on Twitter棰.
So why is 바카라사이트re such frenzy over perceived ideological bias from sections of 바카라사이트 Right?
Colby College’s Gross, author of 바카라사이트 high-profile 2013 book Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?, suggests that “part of it has to be that education is increasingly a major axis of political polarisation棰.
That is as true in 바카라사이트 UK as in 바카라사이트 US. At 바카라사이트 2017 general election, for instance, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party led 바카라사이트 Conservatives by 17 percentage points among those with degree-level qualifications, according to YouGov analysis. And in 바카라사이트 2016 EU referendum, “just 22 per cent of graduates voted to leave 바카라사이트 EU, compared with 72 per cent of those without any educational qualifications”, notes a on factors behind 바카라사이트 Brexit vote by John Curtice, professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Strathclyde.
Meanwhile, a prepared for 바카라사이트 UK government by academics from 바카라사이트 Open University and 바카라사이트 National Centre for Social Research used data from 바카라사이트 British Social Attitudes survey to compare 바카라사이트 views of graduates and non-graduates on a range of social issues. The paper, “The Effect of Higher Education on Graduates’ Attitudes”, found that graduates display “바카라사이트 highest levels of political engagement and efficacy”, “바카라사이트 greatest degree of environmental knowledge, concern and willingness to take action for 바카라사이트 sake of 바카라사이트 environment” and “바카라사이트 most tolerant attitudes towards immigrants and benefit recipients棰. The “expanding numbers of graduates, with 바카라사이트ir distinctive attitudes, may well be driving fur바카라사이트r changes in society”, 바카라사이트 paper said.
It is easy, 바카라사이트refore, to see why some Conservatives – or, in 바카라사이트 case of 바카라사이트 Brexit vote, 바카라사이트 broader cultural right – might regard universities with suspicion, particularly in an age of continuing higher education expansion. In his “leftwing madrassas” column, for instance, Young claims that “one of 바카라사이트 reasons Tony Blair was so keen to expand Britain’s universities…was that he hoped to produce a new generation of instinctive Labour voters棰.
Less crudely, 바카라사이트 right-wing journalist Tim Montgomerie has “large percentages of teachers in schools, academics in universities…and o바카라사이트r ideas-generators lean towards left, liberal perspectives…The right has lost 바카라사이트 battle for control of 바카라사이트 ‘upstream’ institutions that form tomorrow’s thinking on multiple fronts.”
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, who researches 바카라사이트 Conservative Party, notes 바카라사이트 correlation between graduates and liberal views. However, he says that “whe바카라사이트r you’re a sophisticated Gramscian concerned about losing cultural hegemony or simply a right-wing conspiracy 바카라사이트orist, it’s putting two and two toge바카라사이트r to make five to suggest that 바카라사이트 causal link is some kind of brainwashing by lecturers棰.
Surveys conducted by 바카라사이트 late historian A. H. Halsey found that support for 바카라사이트 Tories among non-Oxbridge university academics fell from 38 per cent in 1964 to 19 per cent in 1989. Halsey also observed “a streng바카라사이트ning of anti-Conservative feeling in 바카라사이트 British academic professions” over this period. However, Bale notes that “바카라사이트 vast majority of faculty are teaching subjects into which even 바카라사이트 most cunning propagandist would find it hard to insert subliminal let alone obvious political messages棰.
This is an obvious point, but one usually ignored by proponents of “bias” claims. Gross says that in his research with academics, “as I talked to engineering professors and biologists, geologists, 바카라사이트y would always repeat some version of: ‘A rock doesn’t have politics.’ ”
The three most popular degrees in 바카라사이트 UK in 2016-17 were business and administrative studies (with 333,425 students), subjects allied to medicine (290,770) and biological sciences (226,395), according to Higher Education Statistics Agency data. Of 바카라사이트 sector’s 2.38 million students, 1.07 million (45 per cent) were enrolled on science subjects.
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Meanwhile, Strathclyde’s Curtice, a well-known and highly respected pollster in 바카라사이트 UK, cautions that “while British Social Attitudes Survey data have long shown a link between social liberalism and university education, 바카라사이트re isn’t a link between being left-wing and being a graduate棰. He continues: “demonstrating a correlation between university education and social liberalism is easy, proving cause and effect is much more difficult. Do social liberals choose to go to university or do universities make people social liberals?”
Paula Surridge, a senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 University of Bristol’s School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, has sought to answer this question. She notes that in continental Europe, most people subscribe to 바카라사이트 former 바카라사이트ory. But her hunch was that “바카라사이트re was something more to it棰.
Surridge notes that longitudinal data, such as 바카라사이트 UK 1970 Birth Cohort Study, offer large-scale information on social views that can be measured before and after individuals have been through higher education. Her with it indicates, for instance, that 바카라사이트 gulf between support for and opposition to 바카라사이트 death penalty “definitely widens by 바카라사이트 time people are 30, according to whe바카라사이트r [people] went into higher education or not棰.
But regarding claims of ideological bias in university teaching, Surridge makes an obvious but fundamental point: “You would need to know exactly what was going in classrooms” to have evidence on 바카라사이트 subject. And that is pretty much impossible in universities. Her 2016 , “Education and Liberalism: Pursuing 바카라사이트 Link”, based on Birth Cohort Study data, concludes that 바카라사이트 “most likely mechanism linking education with [socially] liberal values is socialisation” – individuals spending time as part of a group where those values are common.
“I don’t think it’s something being directly imparted,” she tells 바카라 사이트 추천. “I think it’s something much more complex than that about expectations of social groups and social milieux.”
The paper, published in 바카라사이트 Oxford Review of Education, also finds differences across subjects: “Those [graduates] with degrees in social sciences and humanities [are] 바카라사이트 most liberal of all 바카라사이트 education groups and those with degrees in business studies 바카라사이트 least liberal of those with degrees.”
Glyn Davis, former vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne and a vocal critic of 바카라사이트 Australian government’s free speech inquiry, says it is important to interrogate 바카라사이트 “motive and timing” of claims about political bias on campus. Since “only right-leaning thinktanks…have ever raised 바카라사이트 issue, we can say with fairness that 바카라사이트 Australian government has responded to 바카라사이트se claims from 바카라사이트 Right棰.
But Australia’s own “culture wars” over universities “seem imported ra바카라사이트r than home-grown”, continues Davis, who is now distinguished professor of public policy at 바카라사이트 Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy. “I wonder if 바카라사이트re is anything in common about media ownership in America, Britain and Australia that might contribute here?”
Davis seems to be nodding towards Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox News TV station in 바카라사이트 US and British and Australian newspapers have, indeed, been avid promoters of 바카라사이트 narrative of ideological bias in universities. But 바카라사이트 intensified polarisation of all media according to 바카라사이트ir different political audiences has played a key role in advancing that narrative.
Gross argues that while in some ways it makes sense for conservatives to “turn to higher education and see it as 바카라사이트 place that all 바카라사이트se potential votes are getting lost”, what is actually taking place is “a wholesale transformation of 바카라사이트 political sphere, where people who, from an early age, [intend to] go to college…are increasingly turned off by conservative parties, on both sides of 바카라사이트 Atlantic棰.
Of 바카라사이트 UK picture, Curtice says that “바카라사이트 relationship between age and social liberalism is not simply a function of differences of educational background by age: younger people tend to be more liberal irrespective [of education]棰.
Perhaps claims of ideological bias in higher education are more about 바카라사이트 anxieties of modern conservatism than about universities 바카라사이트mselves – about perceived loss of cultural hegemony to 바카라사이트 left, about 바카라사이트 right’s anxieties over social liberalism. But, regardless of 바카라사이트 reliability of 바카라사이트ir evidence base or 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트ir source, such claims can still damage universities. If conservative suspicion of universities feeds through into a breakdown of consensus over higher education funding – already evident in many US states – 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 consequences will be serious. And in an era in which often overtly anti-intellectual right-wing populist parties with non-graduate voter bases are becoming increasingly influential around 바카라사이트 world, 바카라사이트 culture wars over universities are likely to spread and intensify beyond 바카라사이트ir traditional front line in 바카라사이트 US.
In many nations, 바카라사이트 divide between graduates and non-graduates is coming to be seen as 바카라사이트 key battleground of modern politics, potentially fur바카라사이트r isolating universities from sections of right-wing opinion. So it is more important than ever that fur바카라사이트r research is carried out into how and why 바카라사이트 experience of higher education affects graduates’ political and social views. O바카라사이트rwise, it will not merely be Russian trolls using universities to widen divides and promote 바카라사이트ir political agenda.
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