Why are professors liberal?

• Published in: Theory and society Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 127 - 168
• Main Authors: Gross, Neil, Fosse, Ethan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.03.2012; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Americans; College professors; Conservatism; Graduates; Higher education; History, theory and methodology; Income; Intellectuals; Jews; Liberalism; Liberals; Philosophy of the Social Sciences; Political attitudes; Political behaviour; Political education; Political identity; Political sociology; Politics; Power; Professors; Protestantism; Protestants; Rationalism; Religious Education; Social Class; Social research; Social Sciences; Sociologists; Sociology; Sociology of education. Educational systems. Lifelong education; Sociology of professions; Sociology of work; Sociology of work and sociology of organizations; Theory; Tolerance; U.S.A; Voting; United States Of America; Professors; Politics; Intellectuals; New class; Liberalism; Religious membership; Political attitude; Class membership; Income

The political liberalism of professors—an important occupational group and anomaly according to traditional theories of class politics—has long puzzled sociologists. This article sheds new light on the subject by employing a two-step analytic procedure. In the first step, we assess the explanatory p...