Only 20% of university faculty say a conservative would fit in well in their department: report

A new report shows that only 20% of university faculty believe a conservative would fit in well in their department.

"Respondents were also more likely to express skepticism that conservatives would be welcomed within their departments. While 71% of faculty said that a liberal individual would fit into their departments either 'very' or 'somewhat' well, only 20% said the same of a conservative individual," the report stated.

FIRE's Manager of Polling and Analytics Nathan Honeycutt evoked the infamous Joseph McCarthy era to make a relevant connection to the reports' findings.

"The McCarthy era is considered a low point in the history of American academic freedom with witch hunts, loyalty tests, and blacklisting in universities across the country," Honeycutt said.

"That today's scholars feel less free to speak their minds than in the 1950s is a blistering indictment of the current state of academic freedom and discourse."

However, only 17% of liberal faculty felt that they had to hide their political views.

Other findings in the report show that 87% of faculty found it challenging to have an honest and open conversation about "hot-button political topics" on campus.