Academic associations' political statements 'almost uniformly reflect progressive orthodoxy' on major issues, report finds

A new report finds that many scholarly associations in higher education are adopting left-wing stances on major political issues. 

A recent American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study examined 99 academic institutions, and found that “81 percent have issued at least one official position on race or affirmative action, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, immigration, or climate change.” 

Further, the study focuses on the fact that academic associations’ statements on these five areas “almost uniformly reflect progressive orthodoxy.” 

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According to AEI, almost 90 percent of the university departments examined have institutional positions on race/affirmative action, 60 percent on immigration, 35 percent on climate change, and 34 percent on the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Just 26 percent of those associations studied have also provided stances on the Israel-Hamas war. 

In terms of academic or faculty associations who have listed statements on political topics, over 90 percent of associations “whose members are mostly in the arts and sciences” provide official positions.

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Over 80 percent of faculty or academic associations associated with communications have listed stance, with business and agriculture associations both listed at under 50 percent.

In 80 of the 99 academic associations examined who have a statement on at least one of the social or political issues outlined, it is estimated by AEI that there are more than 587,000 members of these associations who work for such institutions.

Additionally, public colleges are universities are estimated to pay roughly $183 million in dues to these associations that faculty or staff belong to 

AEI’s report ends with a number of recommendations, including that public officials should “stop allowing faculty to use public funds to pay dues and fees to associations that adopt political positions.” 

“Today, though, many academic associations are disinclined to fulfill this scholarly mandate,” AEI writes. “Rather than serving as guardians of the discipline, cultivating room for scholarly dissent, and protecting members from the pressures of campus groupthink, many have opted to be avatars of progressive orthodoxy. This makes them superfluous and detrimental.”

Campus Reform has contacted AEI for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.