(The Center Square) – UCLA professors are less than half as likely as their Stanford counterparts to say it’s clear their university administration protects free speech, highlighting stark differences in perceived academic freedom between California’s private and public universities.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a First Amendment legal nonprofit, surveyed 6,269 faculty members at 55 major colleges and universities, found at least one out of every five faculty report that they are likely to self-censor in some way, and that 55% of conservative, 35% of moderate, and 17% of liberal faculty at least occasionally hide their political beliefs from other faculty in an attempt to keep their jobs.
Professors also limit discussions on difficult topics, the survey found.
“Over the past year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been front of mind for many,” FIRE’s report said. “Yet 70% of faculty say they have difficulty talking openly and honestly about this topic on their campus — and this approached 90% on campuses such as Columbia, Stanford, and Rutgers.”
“Many faculty also say they have difficulty talking openly about racial inequality (51%), transgender rights (49%), affirmative action (47%), and the presidential election (41%),” continued the report.
At UCLA, where violent brawls between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian mobs garnered national attention, 78% of 123 surveyed faculty said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the most difficult issue to talk about on campus, followed by transgender rights (51%) and racial inequality (47%).
Sixty-five percent of UCLA faculty who took the survey described themselves as liberal, 16% as moderate, and 16% as conservative. Forty-seven percent also said diversity, equity, and inclusion statement pledges in hiring that articulate a prospective hire’s understanding of DEI in higher education, personal DEI action examples, and future plans to advance DEI, are “never” or “rarely” justifiable. Forty-three percent of UCLA faculty also said it’s not at all or not very clear that the administration protects free speech on campus.
That’s a sharp contrast to professors at Stanford, only 18% of whom say it’s unclear whether the administration protects free speech. Of the 59 surveyed Stanford professors, 68% said DEI statement pledges in hiring are never or rarely acceptable. 71% of surveyed Stanford professors described themselves as liberal, 14% as moderate, and 14% as conservative.
Eighty-seven percent of Stanford professors said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was one of the top three most difficult issues to talk about on campus, followed by affirmative action at 55% and racial inequality at 53%.
The Stanford-UCLA divergence in support for DEI statement pledges in hiring is notable in that the California constitution has an explicit ban on discrimination or preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, education, and contracting. This includes a ban on affirmative action in state universities, and preferential treatment of anyone in higher education on the basis of race or other protected classes.