Posted by Dinah on December 7, 2008, at 10:43:53
In reply to Who is University?, posted by rayww on December 3, 2008, at 13:09:24
You might be thinking of this study? (And similar ones)
http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol3/iss1/art2/
Some claim it to be methodologically flawed, with a sample size too small. Others complain that it doesn't include community colleges. While I have the greatest respect for community colleges, I don't know that their inclusion would fit the nature of the study.
I haven't been to university for a few years, but from what I recall a great number of things were taught that didn't have much to do with ideology at all. Maths, sciences, business admin stuff. It wouldn't have surprised me to learn that my chemistry professor never even turned on the news.
But studies consistently show that professors self identify with the left more than the right, and moreso in elite universities. That does not in any way prove that there is any bias in the selection of professors (since there could be a fair amount of self selection involved). It also doesn't mean that there is any bias in the treatment of students or ideas. Indeed, my experience was that my professors did respect the viewpoints of their students, and didn't try to indoctrinate them. About the only thing I can say is that after World Religion studies (which was taught by someone with credentials that would imply that he himself was religious) I became agnostic for several years. And oddly enough I ran into someone else who took his class several years after I did, and who also became agnostic for several years. However, since both of us eventually found a more deeply understood personal faith, it could be argued that he wasn't anti religion. It's also possible he just wished us to think and come up with our own relationship with God. I attended two universities, but I don't in any way imagine that my experience was generalizable. Both universities were similarly situated.
I'm not saying that I'm not worried about my son's choice of university. There are universities that appear to promote values that are incompatible with the values we hold as a family. But there are lots of universities out there. And as he grows older and develops into a young man with his own values and ideas, I grow less and less worried. I suspect that he will pick a university where he can feel comfortable, and I have no doubt that I will feel totally comfortable with it as well.
That's why there's so much choice out there.
And... Well, as with my experience, university does open the mind and shake a bit of what's already in it out, and open the minds to new ideas. Some young people can be caught up in the glorious freedom of ideas and give their parents a bit of a surprise. But in the end, I think that their own natures and their own values will prevail. After all, once they leave university, other influences will also come into play.
poster:Dinah
thread:866448
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20081115/msgs/867226.html