There is a growing and disturbing schism between how men and women approach politics and free expression. Liberal women, in particular, have started to reshape American politics according to a more progressive ideology, and I see this phenomenon impacting college campuses. Many of my female professorial colleagues are more left-leaning than male faculty, and women are generally less supportive of free expression than men; they often see ideological diversity as a problem rather than as strength. I deeply worry about how this will stifle open inquiry and change the meaning of education, as professors become more reluctant to help students embrace discovery and ask questions.
While it may not be immediately apparent, women are ascendant on college and university campuses today and women generally outnumber men: 75 percent of Ivy League presidents, 66 percent of college administrators, and 58 percent of recent graduates are now female. Today many college administrators are part of a bureaucracy that pushes ideas like identity politics and divisive, reductionist, and community-fracturing narratives like “anti-racism.” Additionally, many Gen Z women students have grown up being fed reverse narratives from cognitive behavior therapy that promote depression and a sense of victimization. It has sadly become the norm that schools have witnessed a serious rise in the language surrounding “the concepts of victim identity and of trauma.” This is dangerous for the higher education world as it can shut down open inquiry and limit expression and the exploration of ideas for fear of upsetting feelings. When we stifle inquiry and expression out of fear, learning stops.
Professors are supposed to exemplify the collegiate value of free thinking and open curiosity. Sadly, female professors are far more likely to try to limit expression than to promote it. A new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) of almost 1,500 college faculty members across the country documents a wide gender gap when it comes to attitudes towards free expression and academic freedom.
To start, female faculty are far more liberal than their male counterparts. Almost 60 percent of female professors are liberal, while 22 percent are conservative. Male professors are 48 percent liberal and 32 percent conservative. Female faculty networks are also less politically diverse than males; 62 percent of female professors report that more than half, almost all, or all of their friends share the same party identification or ideological leaning as them, compared to 53 percent of men.
Not only are their social networks largely homogenous, female professors are appreciably less tolerant of differing views on campus.
Professors were asked about whether they would be open to sitting at a lunch with a colleague who is a Trump supporter. Almost a third (32 percent) of female professors reported that they would be either somewhat or very uncomfortable doing so, while just 14 percent of male faculty reported the same. When asked about the use of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements, 61 percent of female faculty indicated they view signing onto a DEI statement as a justifiable requirement for hiring someone, while 61 percent of male faculty said that such statements are ideological litmus tests.
Turning to the question of trying to limit speech, which has become a habitual problem on campuses nationwide, female professors are far more likely to want to shut down and punish others. This becomes plainly clear when faculty are asked about student behavior toward speakers and attempts to silence or prevent a speaker from expressing views. Fifty-one percent of women professors reported that they could envision shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus as being acceptable, compared to just 39 percent of men.
The faculty respondents were also asked how white male professors who refuse to take diversity training should be punished. Nearly half of the female faculty believe their male counterparts should face some sort of sanction. Thirty percent of female professors believe that professors should be removed from the classroom until they comply. Seventeen percent of female professors believe that these male professors should be suspended until they comply. Two percent of female faculty even believe that their white male counterparts should be fired. A quarter of men (26 percent), on the other hand, think professors should be punished.
A significant gender imbalance exists on collegiate campuses today, with men being far less likely to be in teaching or leadership roles. Men and women are developing meaningfully divergent attitudes about politics and expression, and this is powerfully apparent among the professoriate. In a world of constant self-censorship, it is college professors who have the fiduciary and sacred duty to promote open debate, discourse, and dialogue amongst themselves and their students. Female faculty are far less likely than their male counterparts to support these hallowed and critical practices, and higher education will suffer as a result.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
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