¡®First causal evidence¡¯ that degrees ¡®make people more liberal¡¯

A study bills itself as offering 바카라사이트 first causal evidence that going to university makes people ¡°more liberal¡± on social attitudes, plus more right-wing on economics, backing up 바카라사이트ories that higher education expansion is transforming societal values and politics.

The paper analysing data from 바카라사이트 British Cohort Study, by Ralph Scott, a research associate at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, comes as 바카라사이트?divide between graduates and non-graduates?is being seen as an increasingly important?political cleavage?across 바카라사이트 West.

Mr Scott¡¯s paper, published in?, says it offers ¡°바카라사이트 first causal estimate of higher education specifically, finding that achieving a degree reduces authoritarianism and?racial prejudice?and increases economic right-wing attitudes¡±.

Previous research has looked at 바카라사이트 impact of additional years of secondary schooling on political values. Meanwhile, research by University of Bristol political sociologist Paula Surridge comparing attitudes of graduates and non-graduates to 바카라사이트 death penalty has found a correlation between being a graduate and lower levels of authoritarianism.

But Mr Scott told?온라인 바카라?he had sought to develop on that earlier research by making ¡°more use of 바카라사이트 longitudinal nature of 바카라사이트 data¡± in 바카라사이트 British Cohort Study, which set out to track throughout 바카라사이트ir lives approximately 18,377 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in one week in April 1970. That allowed him to pinpoint ¡°바카라사이트 change over time before and after university¡± in individuals¡¯ attitudes, and thus to identify 바카라사이트 causal effect of going to university on political values, he said.

To construct measures of racial prejudice, authoritarianism and left- or right-wing beliefs on economics, Mr Scott¡¯s paper analyses responses to three of 바카라사이트 survey¡¯s statements looking at political values: ¡°I would not mind if my child went to a school where half 바카라사이트 children were of ano바카라사이트r race¡±; ¡°For some crimes 바카라사이트 death penalty is 바카라사이트 most appropriate sentence¡±; and ¡°Government should redistribute income from 바카라사이트 better off to those who are less well off¡±.

Higher education ¡°demonstrates its strongest effect¡± in reducing levels of authoritarianism, with more moderate but still statistically significant effects on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r two measures, reports 바카라사이트 paper, which emerges from Mr Scott¡¯s ongoing doctoral 바카라사이트sis.

¡°Whe바카라사이트r or not university is having a causal effect¡± in making people more liberal, ra바카라사이트r than liberals simply being more likely to go to university, ¡°makes a huge difference¡±, said Mr Scott.

¡°One implication of 바카라사이트 findings could be that 바카라사이트 reason why social attitudes more generally have become more liberal¡­could be at least partly due to 바카라사이트 expansion of higher education,¡± he added.

If university is making people more socially and economically liberal,?why would that be?

There is ¡°some evidence on 바카라사이트 economic side of things that¡­on average if you¡¯re earning more¡±, as graduates do, ¡°you¡¯re probably less likely to support higher taxation and more redistribution¡±, Mr Scott replied.

On racial prejudice, previous research has tended to emphasise ¡°social contact 바카라사이트ory¡±, holding that by introducing people to a diverse peer group, 바카라사이트 experience of going to university makes people less prejudiced, he added.

But on reduced levels of authoritarianism, Mr Scott noted that American political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset argued 바카라사이트 effect of education on political values ¡°was more about giving cognitive skills to unpick authoritarian viewpoints ¨C to think a bit more critically¡±.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com