Lopsided Politics on Faculties

I'm sure most of blogosphere has heard of the New York Times article on the extreme political skew of some university faculties. The two most common explanations are: 1) that right-wingers don't have the mental capacity to be a professor; 2) that hiring committees are discriminating against conservatives. I find both of those hard to believe. On the one hand, we see much less skew in people with advanced degrees who aren't professors. On the other hand, I haven't heard of enough examples of discrimination against conservatives.

Speaking as a Ph.D. who's not a professor, I think this is probably because leftists are more likely to be attracted to shaping “young skulls full of mush.” If you're going by “They say” instead of “It is,” it's of utmost importance to influence what “They say.” If you're going by “It is,” such influence is of secondary importance.