Why Hiring Professors With Conservative Views Could Backfire on Conservatives

public hermit · Tuesday at 7:12 AM

Is hiring more conservative professors and admitting more conservative students a solution to liberal bias in American higher education?

Many people think so. The Trump administration, in threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, demanded that the university foster greater “viewpoint diversity,” including by recruiting faculty members and students who would restore ideological balance to campus.

But a policy of hiring professors and admitting students because they have conservative views would actually endanger the open-minded intellectual environment that proponents of viewpoint diversity say they want. By creating incentives for professors and students to have and maintain certain political positions, such a policy would discourage curiosity and reward narrowness of thought.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/viewpoint-diversity-conservatives-college.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VU8.2mRP.GDFxGd3Jorw0&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Would a deliberate effort to hire professors with conservatives views backfire or create balance? The example of Robert Nozick is given in the article as an someone who had an obvious Libertarian view but was hired for intellectual rigor and not his politics. Is that a good example?

ETA: The author concedes that there is liberal bias in US universities.

2PhiloVoid · Tuesday at 7:27 AM

public hermit said:
Is hiring more conservative professors and admitting more conservative students a solution to liberal bias in American higher education?

Many people think so. The Trump administration, in threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, demanded that the university foster greater “viewpoint diversity,” including by recruiting faculty members and students who would restore ideological balance to campus.

But a policy of hiring professors and admitting students because they have conservative views would actually endanger the open-minded intellectual environment that proponents of viewpoint diversity say they want. By creating incentives for professors and students to have and maintain certain political positions, such a policy would discourage curiosity and reward narrowness of thought.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/viewpoint-diversity-conservatives-college.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VU8.2mRP.GDFxGd3Jorw0&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Would a deliberate effort to hire professors with conservatives views backfire or create balance? The example of Robert Nozick is given in the article as an someone who had an obvious Libertarian view but was hired for intellectual rigor and not his politics. Is that a good example?

From all I read and heard in my Social Philosophy classes some years ago, I think the main problem with U.S. higher education (such as is found at Harvard) is in who gets to define both "open-mindedness" and "intellectual rigor" and expound on what these terms should entail within the political and educational arenas.

Since it appears people are beside themselves in being polarized about politics, either Left or Right, one would have to be as blind as a bat (Nagel pun intended :sorry:

) to ignore the fact that we'll never find any common denominator by which to come together in unified solidarity where public education will truly flourish with authentic diversity.

d taylor · Tuesday at 7:48 AM

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When i was in college back in the 80's i had no idea what the teachers political beliefs were.

public hermit · Tuesday at 8:00 AM

d taylor said:
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When i was in college back in the 80's i had no idea what the teachers political beliefs were.

I believe it. In the 80s and 90s, politics and political discussion were not as prominent (?) as they are today. I don't know if I'm saying that right, but I think I know what you're getting at. I think 24 news cycles and the internet, along with other things, changed how we view politics. We seem to wear our politics on our sleeves in a way that we didn't before.

d taylor · Tuesday at 8:06 AM

public hermit said:
I believe it. In the 80s and 90s, politics and political discussion were not as prominent (?) as they are today. I don't know if I'm saying that right, but I think I know what you're getting at. I think 24 news cycles and the internet, along with other things, changed how we view politics. We seem to wear our politics on our sleeves in a way that we didn't before.

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I probably would not make it in college now. As i would say shut up about the politics and teach your subject.

Akita Suggagaki · Tuesday at 8:34 AM

public hermit said:
discourage curiosity and reward narrowness of thought.

That is the current environment our president wants to maintain and nourish.

BCP1928 · Tuesday at 8:38 AM

d taylor said:
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I probably would not make it in college now. As i would say shut up about the politics and teach your subject.

What if the subject is politics? Or history? Public hermit is right, though, it will backfire. What conservatives want is indoctrination with the myth of American Exceptionalism and "conservative values." They tout the "Classics of Western Thought" as the basis of it, but what they forget is that the Classics of Western Thought represent the tradition which led to the Enlightenment and the very liberal values which they despise.

d taylor · Tuesday at 8:42 AM

BCP1928 said:
What if the subject is politics? Or history? Public hermit is right, though, it will backfire. What conservatives want is indoctrination with the myth of American Exceptionalism and "conservative values." They tout the "Classics of Western Thought" as the basis of it, but what they forget is that the Classics of Western Thought represent the tradition which led to the Enlightenment and the very liberal values which they despise.

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I would say that is a sorry teacher who can not teach a subject "politics" and not leave their beliefs at home.

BCP1928 · Tuesday at 8:44 AM

d taylor said:
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I would say that is a sorry teacher who can not teach a subject "politics" and not leave their beliefs at home.

Why should they? What kind of beliefs are you talking about?

Larniavc · Tuesday at 8:44 AM

public hermit said:
Is hiring more conservative professors and admitting more conservative students a solution to liberal bias in American higher education?

Many people think so. The Trump administration, in threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, demanded that the university foster greater “viewpoint diversity,” including by recruiting faculty members and students who would restore ideological balance to campus.

But a policy of hiring professors and admitting students because they have conservative views would actually endanger the open-minded intellectual environment that proponents of viewpoint diversity say they want. By creating incentives for professors and students to have and maintain certain political positions, such a policy would discourage curiosity and reward narrowness of thought.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/viewpoint-diversity-conservatives-college.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VU8.2mRP.GDFxGd3Jorw0&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Would a deliberate effort to hire professors with conservatives views backfire or create balance? The example of Robert Nozick is given in the article as an someone who had an obvious Libertarian view but was hired for intellectual rigor and not his politics. Is that a good example?

ETA: The author concedes that there is liberal bias in US universities.

It wouldn’t maintain a balance. But that would not be it backfiring. That would be as intended.

It’s like what happened in The Handmaids Tale.

Larniavc · Tuesday at 8:46 AM

public hermit said:
I believe it. In the 80s and 90s, politics and political discussion were not as prominent (?) as they are today.

One of my sociology tutors in the early 90s was clearly a lefty.

Sif · Tuesday at 8:53 AM

I remember one of my favorite class in college was overtly political. It was American Political Thought. As students we often would engage the professor on various topics. We could never figure out if he was Liberal, Moderate, or Conservative. One day we asked him, and he told us it didn't matter. He then drew us into a discussion on illegal immigration. He made excellent points for the "conservative" side of the argument the proceeded to make excellent points for the "liberal" side. He said we each needed to form our own views based on the best information available and to understand an issue from all sides. I've always tried to do that. I would say I am mostly successful given that many Liberals say I am a Conservative, and many Conservatives say I am a Liberal.

It was years after the class I discovered that the professor was a member of the Democratic Party in my state when I happened to see him at a fundraising event. I spoke with him and he said his intention in the class was to teach us to engage our minds. One of the best books from the class I still own, Closing of The American Mind by Allan Bloom.

Maria Billingsley · Tuesday at 8:57 AM

I

public hermit said:
Is hiring more conservative professors and admitting more conservative students a solution to liberal bias in American higher education?

Many people think so. The Trump administration, in threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, demanded that the university foster greater “viewpoint diversity,” including by recruiting faculty members and students who would restore ideological balance to campus.

But a policy of hiring professors and admitting students because they have conservative views would actually endanger the open-minded intellectual environment that proponents of viewpoint diversity say they want. By creating incentives for professors and students to have and maintain certain political positions, such a policy would discourage curiosity and reward narrowness of thought.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/opinion/viewpoint-diversity-conservatives-college.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VU8.2mRP.GDFxGd3Jorw0&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Would a deliberate effort to hire professors with conservatives views backfire or create balance? The example of Robert Nozick is given in the article as an someone who had an obvious Libertarian view but was hired for intellectual rigor and not his politics. Is that a good example?

ETA: The author concedes that there is liberal bias in US universities.

I examined the impact of a professor's political ideology (liberal or conservative) on their contributions within an academic setting. While a liberal professor would focus on equality and justice a conservative professor would focus on tradition and order. Now we have to break down how each of these qualities contribute to our society. Any form of extremism will cause an imbalance in the field of political science unless they teach without prejudice. After all what is a political scientist?

A political scientist studies the origin, development, and operation of political systems and analyzes political activities, thought, and behavior.

The field of political science strives for complete neutrality. They must remain objective with no partiality in their research and analysis. Their goal is to understand and explain political phenomena based on evidence, rather than to promote a particular agenda. Professional ethical guidelines emphasize honesty, integrity, and transparency to minimize bias.

No need to hire pundits into our universities.

d taylor · Tuesday at 8:58 AM

BCP1928 said:
Why should they? What kind of beliefs are you talking about?

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I am not paying (or my parents) a school to be taught the personal political beliefs of a teacher.

Unlike taking a painting class and the painting professor at college has certain beliefs about paintings. You would take that class because you like the way they paint and believe in what they teach. Which is a personal belief about painting.

BCP1928 · Tuesday at 9:03 AM

My poly sci professor always maintained that the real opposite of Liberal was not Conservative but Ideologue. It's the ideologues who have no place in colleges. That would exclude many of those who are regarded as liberals in modern parlance, but it would just about sweep the field of so-called conservatives.

BCP1928 · Tuesday at 9:05 AM

d taylor said:
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I am not paying (or my parents) a school to be taught the personal political beliefs of a teacher.

Unlike taking a painting class and the painting professor at college has certain beliefs about paintings. You would take that class because you like the way they paint and believe in what they teach. Which is a personal belief about painting.

What? How many college art classes have you taken?

iluvatar5150 · Tuesday at 9:05 AM

I'm not naive enough to think there's no anti-conservative bias in universities, but at the same time, it's IME, having known loads of professors and having watched multiple search committees from the sidelines (my wife was involved), it's largely not as bad as folks outside the industry seem to think it is. Between think tanks and conservative-friendly/leaning universities, conservatives have plenty of places to go and do good scholarship and show off to the rest of us how valid and robust their ideas are.

One of the problems with conservatism as a perspective or a temperament is that it tends to seek certainty, which is anathema to the sort of work that researchers and philosophers tend to do. With regards to contemporary American conservatism, over the last few decades, it's tended to skew towards a sort of anti-intellectual populism, which also is anathema to academia.

d taylor said:
I am not paying (or my parents) a school to be taught the personal political beliefs of a teacher.

Unlike taking a painting class and the painting professor at college has certain beliefs about paintings. You would take that class because you like the way they paint and believe in what they teach. Which is a personal belief about painting.

The concerns here are mostly not about undergraduate lectures. It's largely about graduate/doctoral level programs and the writings produced by those professors.

Also, if you think art classes can't get political.... lol buddy.

BCP1928 said:
My poly sci professor always maintained that the real opposite of Liberal was not Conservative but Ideologue. It's the ideologues who have no place in colleges. That would exclude many of those who are regarded as liberals in modern parlance, but it would just about sweep the field of so-called conservatives.

I like that framing.

public hermit · Tuesday at 9:05 AM

Larniavc said:
One of my sociology tutors in the early 90s was clearly a lefty.

That's a good counter-example. Isn't that common in sociology? I have never met a conservative sociologist lol, but they might exist.

public hermit · Tuesday at 9:06 AM

Sif said:
I remember one of my favorite class in college was overtly political. It was American Political Thought. As students we often would engage the professor on various topics. We could never figure out of he was Liberal, Moderate, or Conservative. One day we asked him and he told us it didn't matter. He then drew us into a discussion on illegal immigration. He made excellent points for the "conservative" side of the argument the proceeded to make excellent points for the "liberal" side. He said we each needed to form our own views based on the best information available and to understand an issue from all sides. I've always tried to do that. I would say I am mostly successful given that many Liberals say I am a Conservative and many Conservative say I am a Liberal.

It was years after the class I discovered that the professor was a member of the Democratic Party in my state when I happened to see him at a fundraising event. I spoke with him and he said his intention in the class was to teach us to engage our minds. One of the best books from the class I still own, Closing of The American Mind by Allan Bloom.

That's a great example of how I think it should be.

BCP1928 · Tuesday at 9:11 AM

iluvatar5150 said:
Also, if you think art classes can't get political.... lol buddy.

That is part of the fun. Universities are supposed to be places where one's beliefs are challenged with new ideas. If that's not what you want, go to trade school

Why Hiring Professors With Conservative Views Could Backfire on Conservatives

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