[WOSG]

I have an IQ of 150, did well throughout my schooling, and have a PhD from a top University (UIUC). And I'm conservative.

I never considered an academic career IN PART because the Universities are nests of liberal PC nonsense and my "karma" couldnt tolerate being in such a depressing environment and seeing such cr*p all the time. Moreover, I've seen enough bias in academia to know that white male conservatives would not be treated as well as others. For example, if I was wearing a dress instead of a suit, a PhD in my area would be enough to get a much more prestigious position ("affirmative action" and "diversity"ya know). The odds are stacked against the white male conservatives and i'd rather not play that game.

Plus, I didnt want to be a closeted conservative just to have a job.

I salute the conservatives who ARE on campus, on the front lines of the cultural and political battles. My hat's off to you!

[Right Wing Professor]

I never considered an academic career IN PART because the Universities are nests of liberal PC nonsense and my "karma" couldnt tolerate being in such a depressing environment and seeing such cr*p all the time. Moreover, I've seen enough bias in academia to know that white male conservatives would not be treated as well as others. For example, if I was wearing a dress instead of a suit, a PhD in my area would be enough to get a much more prestigious position ("affirmative action" and "diversity"ya know). The odds are stacked against the white male conservatives and i'd rather not play that game.

Hard to argue against much of this, but let me qualify it a bit.

In general, the PC-ness varies across campus. There are departments where it is impossible or even contradictory to be a conservative (Women's, Ethnic Studies). There are departments where, on any but a few campuses, the conservative would not be hired, or if he/she snuck through, would be run out on a rail (most of the Humanities, some of the social sciences). And then there are fields that are apolitical or even conservative-leaning (the sciences, much of business, engineering).There's an 'Atlas Shrugged' element to this. The sciences, engineering and business bring in most of the funding and a lot of the prestige, but we typically have little influence, in part because few of us have the time to get involved in the incredible pettiness of campus politics.

Affirmative action and worse - outright unconcealed discrimination - are rampant, of course.

In fact, white males are largely shunning academia. I sat on a search committee meeting yesterday where of the eight top candidates, 6 were Chinese or Indians, one was an American female, and one was an American male. This is a hot area of science. I asked why, and the consensus opinion is that white American applicants can get a better salary with less stress working in private industry; few want to bother with academia any more. The problem is, as we replace the science and engineering faculty with non-native speakers with little knowledge or experience with American traditions, American science students will become even more alienated than they already are.

I salute the conservatives who ARE on campus, on the front lines of the cultural and political battles. My hat's off to you!

Thanks, but I do it mostly because I enjoy it. Without 100:1 odds against, the fight would be too easy!