2008 Woodie Awards
Profs should keep politics out of class
Christina Jelly
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinion
It's a fact of life for most college students that professors will occasionally interject their own political opinions into their course lectures. It's not surprising for many of us to hear off-handed comments from professors excoriating Bush or the Iraq war, whether we are in a political science or physics lecture. A 2004 University of Connecticut survey found that 49 percent of students thought it commonplace to hear political comments from lecturers in courses, regardless of the subject matter. For many of us, professors' criticisms of current American policy have lost their political charge since we have heard them in nearly every class.
Yet, we shouldn't be quick to dismiss the influence of such off-handed remarks: They can have surprising and unexpected effects on our performance in courses in addition to our own beliefs.
Conservative groups have long derided university faculties for attempting to churn out only like-minded liberals. Books such as "Indoctrination U.," "Brainwashed" and "Shadow University" charge academia with attempting to hammer in liberalism rather than allowing a free and open exchange of ideas.
Liberals often discount such valuations as overblown conservative propaganda, but a handful of legitimate research has shown that such concerns may not just be a partisan ploy.
It may not be a surprise that the majority of professors on any campus are more left of center, politically. A study by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research found that professors nationwide are three times more likely to align with liberal ideologies than conservative ones. What is surprising, however, are the potential ramifications of professors introducing their own political biases into the course material. Our perceptions of our professors' opinions affect how or whether we approach professors inside and outside of the classroom. Sociologists who study professor-student dynamics have observed that students who believe their political views don't align with their professors are less likely to go to office hours and engage in classroom discussions - all of which can have negative impacts on student performance.
Yet, we shouldn't be quick to dismiss the influence of such off-handed remarks: They can have surprising and unexpected effects on our performance in courses in addition to our own beliefs.
Conservative groups have long derided university faculties for attempting to churn out only like-minded liberals. Books such as "Indoctrination U.," "Brainwashed" and "Shadow University" charge academia with attempting to hammer in liberalism rather than allowing a free and open exchange of ideas.
Liberals often discount such valuations as overblown conservative propaganda, but a handful of legitimate research has shown that such concerns may not just be a partisan ploy.
It may not be a surprise that the majority of professors on any campus are more left of center, politically. A study by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research found that professors nationwide are three times more likely to align with liberal ideologies than conservative ones. What is surprising, however, are the potential ramifications of professors introducing their own political biases into the course material. Our perceptions of our professors' opinions affect how or whether we approach professors inside and outside of the classroom. Sociologists who study professor-student dynamics have observed that students who believe their political views don't align with their professors are less likely to go to office hours and engage in classroom discussions - all of which can have negative impacts on student performance.
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