A take on academia’s apparent left-wing bias:

Many comments about @epkaufm’s survey point to it being non-representative, too small, etc. This might be true, but misses the point: even a perfect survey of *current* academics does not give us the inferences we need.

Proponents of the bias argument claim that most academics hold left-wing views. If we accept this claim, then restricting our view to only current academics leads to selection bias.

Rather than looking only at current academics, we should instead focus on those people who *could* choose to become academics, then see if ideology plays a role in who does and who does not.

Let’s do a little thought experiment. Imagine two identical people, both equally competent and skilled, but who have opposite political views. One leans left, the other leans right. Both are enrolled on the same Master’s degree.

Let’s also assume that their skills make them suitable for two positions: as a PhD student or as a financial analyst.

Option 1, the PhD, provides autonomy but at the expense of income. You make little, face an incredibly tough job market once you finish, and then face comparatively low pay if you do land a job. Still, you get to do research, teach great students, and for some that’s enough.

Option 2, the analyst position, provides income at the expense of autonomy. You can make a lot of money, but have to work on projects that might not interest you. But you still have some free time to enjoy and also the financial freedom to do whatever you like in it.

If you’re open to a financial role, the cost-benefit analysis is pretty clear. You probably face a less competitive job market than academia, will make more money, and will work a similar amount of hours.

Would we expect our two characters to balance up these opportunities in the same way? Of course not. Left leaning people probably won’t want to work for a financial company. But right leaning people might.

(It’s worth also pointing out here that the balance of costs/benefits probably differs by field, which might also explain why critics complain about left wing bias in the humanities but not, say, engineering)

The outcome is that more left leaning people opt to pursue an academic career. And thus, without need for indoctrination or the like, we arrive at a situation similar to our own.

The point, then, is that if we want to understand what produces the ideological make up of the academic community, we need to survey people who aren’t yet but could become academics and see what leads them to make the choices that they do.

This probably means surveying final year undergrad and postgrads to see what kind of choices they make.