A majority of professors in the U.S. feel their institutions lean to the left with conservatives reporting more self-censorship than those with other political leanings, according to a newly released survey.The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its 2024 FIRE Faculty Survey Report. The report titled "Silence in the Classroom," is based on responses collected from 6,269 faculty working at 55 U.S. colleges and universities between March 4 and May 13. "Academic freedom may technically exist, but many faculty appear to lack faith that it will be there to protect them — their work, their reputations," the report concluded. "A climate of this type is not sustainable...if higher education desires to uphold its truth-seeking and knowledge-producing mission."The report asked respondents if they faced difficulty having an "open and honest conversation" about certain hot-button topics on campus. An overwhelming 70% said yes regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, followed by 51% for racial inequality and 49% for transgender rights. .Overall, 27% of faculty believed they could not express their opinion on a certain subject due to concerns about how other faculty, students and the administration would respond. Nearly half of conservative professors (47%) expressed this concern compared to just 29% of their moderate counterparts and 19% of their liberal peers.A majority of conservative professors (55%) occasionally hide their beliefs to keep their jobs, compared to 35% for moderates and 17% for liberals..The report found that 32% of conservative professors were likely to self-censor the topics they investigated compared to 25% of moderate professors and 15% of liberal professors. Conservative professors were also more likely to engage in self-censorship when it comes to their academic publications (42%) than moderate (34%) and liberal (21%) professors.Most conservative professors (58%) said they censored their lectures or discussions in the classroom while less than half of moderate (48%) and liberal (38%) professors said the same. Most conservative professors (57%) censored their outside talks also, outpacing moderate (47%) and liberal professors (34%).The share of conservative professors who self-censor emails, social media and other types of similar communications (69%), is higher than the percentage of moderate (62%) and liberal professors (50%).About two-thirds of faculty (66%) say colleges and universities should not take positions on political and social issues. Also 50% of faculty say it is rarely or never justified to require faculty job candidates to submit statements pledging commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion."The academy needs courageous faculty who are not afraid to research, write about, or teach topics that some many shy away from because they are labeled as controversial — to ask and investigate unasked and unanswered questions," the report said. "The academy needs more faculty who are not afraid to support colleagues who themselves are afraid, or who have been targeted and come under fire for their speech or academic endeavors.Only 20% of faculty said a conservative person would be a very or somewhat positive fit for their department, compared to 71% for a liberal person.Only 27% of faculty believe academic freedom is secure on their campus, while only 45% of them are confident in U.S. colleges and universities. These low numbers were still higher than those found in the general public.A FIRE poll released in June found 42% of Democrats had confidence in post-secondary institutions, compared to 28% for independents and 12% for Republicans. By sex, just 29% of women and 26% of men expressed such confidence. Of those who had bachelor's degrees or higher education, 38% were confident, compared to 27% for those with some post-secondary education, and 19% with none at all.
