July 9th, 2024

Gallup: Confidence in higher education plunges to 36% from 57% in 2015

Public confidence in higher education has declined to 36% from 57% in 2015. Surveys show a lack of ideological diversity among faculty, raising concerns about academic echo chambers and erosion of free speech. Calls for reform are needed.

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Gallup: Confidence in higher education plunges to 36% from 57% in 2015

Public confidence in higher education has significantly declined, with only 36% of adults expressing a great deal or a lot of confidence in colleges and universities, down from 57% in 2015. Surveys reveal a lack of ideological diversity among faculty members, with a significant majority identifying as liberal or very liberal, while conservative representation is minimal. This trend has led to concerns about academic echo chambers and the erosion of free speech and viewpoint diversity on campuses. The exclusion of opposing viewpoints has alienated many students and taxpayers, leading to a perception of universities as promoting indoctrination rather than education. Despite rising tuition costs and decreasing faith in the value of a college education, institutions have been slow to address these issues. Calls for reform to restore intellectual diversity may need to come from donors, legislators, or market pressures to counter the prevailing trend of ideological homogeneity in academia.

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Link Icon 4 comments
By @EricE - 3 months
Force universities to underwrite student loans. If students can't get a job within 3 years of graduation, schools (not the taxpayers!) have to pay off the loans.

90% of the bullocks in so-called higher education would resolve itself rather quickly. Colleges are drunk with "cheap" money and out of control lending is the primary factor.

By @achillesheels - 3 months
The lacking math requirements for understanding the Fourier Transform is alarming; the lack of bio electronic feedback diagramming of the human nervous system - and the lack of electrical scientific knowledge in the biological but especially social “science” departments is also scary.
By @bell-cot - 3 months
> In my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I have a long chapter on the erosion of free speech and viewpoint diversity in higher education.

> We previously discussed how surveys at universities show a virtual purging of conservative and Republican faculty members. For example, last year, the Harvard Crimson noted that the university had virtually eliminated Republicans from most departments but that the lack of diversity was not a problem.

And so on, seemingly 100% focused on "Campus vs. Conservatives" culture war stuff. Not a hint of the horrific decline in the affordability of higher education over the past half-century. Nor the transformation of basic, functional campuses into 5-star resorts. Nor the protection & pampering of habitual sexual predators on the university staff. Nor ...

I might agree with most of his talking points - but I'd neither buy his book, nor want anyone like him to hold power at a university.

By @taylodl - 3 months
I'm so tired of these people on the fringe. Nobody, and I mean nobody, cares about your opinions on mathematics, science, medicine, or 99.99% of all the subjects where as a student you're there to learn, not provide an opinion.

This is your first clue that the overwhelming majority of the folks on the Right have never gone to college. They have this fantasy that the time in calculus is spent talking about the rights of Drag Queens. The only course I took where you were encouraged to express an opinion as an Argumentation & Debate class - and that class demanded you back up that opinion with facts and evidence! You weren't allowed to simply spout a bunch of nonsense!