Is Freedom of Expression and Beliefs Encouraged in College Classrooms?
It doesn’t take a political analyst to see that Americans are, as it relates to ideologies and factions, more polarized than ever. This growing divide and increased tension have become impossible to ignore, pitting individuals of differing views against one another: family members refusing to speak to one another, friendships becoming irreconcilable, people engaging in hostile verbal exchanges over social media, and even physical violence against those who disagree with a certain perspective held by another are all very real examples of the effects of this political polarization.
College campuses and universities have long been celebrated as environments where free speech, along with the exchange of ideas and perspectives, is not only tolerated but encouraged. In the last few decades, we’ve seen this long-established assumption come into question. While universities have almost always leaned liberal in their population of students and professors, outspoken conservatives and right-leaning pundits have expressed their disdain for American universities. We’ve all heard Republican politicians and talking heads say things like “colleges are indoctrinating students with ‘liberal propaganda’” or “universities are just ‘liberal echo chambers’” (Shapiro, 2004; The Tenth Man, 2019).
As a senior in college, I can share firsthand that I have heard a handful of my peers express their frustration about holding any views that dissent from a liberal ideology. That is, I’ve heard enough complaints and read enough rants online to wonder, what exactly is going on? If universities, particularly inside the classroom, supposedly encourage diverse viewpoints, free speech, and expression, why do a significant number of students feel disillusioned, scared to share their true opinions, and feel compelled to lie in assignments out of fear that their political views differ from those of their professors?
With these questions in mind, I created a survey to gain insight into college students’ thoughts on the longstanding belief that colleges and universities in the United States are pillars of free speech and places where the exchange of ideas and opinions is not only welcomed, but encouraged. I set out to discover whether conservative-leaning students truly feel restricted when it comes to voicing their opinions in the classroom; additionally, I am curious as to how their liberal-leaning peers view the situation–do liberal students have any hesitations when it comes to sharing their views in the classroom?
I began my survey with a note to participants explaining the questions I am hoping to answer from their responses. I also stressed that their responses will be entirely anonymous. In order for people to respond truthfully, especially about a contentious issue such as politics, it was of the utmost importance that the participants’ responses could not be tied back to them.
The first few items of the survey were strictly demographic in nature. I wanted to know the components of the individual’s identity that may affect their responses when it comes to their comfortability in expressing opinions in the classroom. I asked for each participant’s major (as each major’s curriculum varies in terms of politically-charged content); year in school (underclassmen may be less confident to share their opinions whereas upperclassmen are more seasoned and comfortable); gender (certain majors and classes have an under- and over-representation of one gender, which may contribute to the minority gender feeling ostracized); race/ethnicity (individuals who identify as a minority or of a historically marginalized race may feel less comfortable); home state/country (different geographic locations in which individuals live/grew up may contribute to their beliefs); and, finally, political-affiliation (if the student identifies with any party, that could potentially impact their viewpoint, getting at the heart of the survey).
Overall, the respondents were diverse in terms of the demographics collected.
Fifteen different majors were represented, including social sciences, STEM fields, and the arts and humanities.
Underclassmen were underrepresented among the respondents. This could be due to their discomfort in sharing their opinions as students newer to campus. However, both under- and upperclassmen, as well as recent graduates and graduate students, are represented among the participants.
While there is a clear majority of respondents who identify as male, there are enough individuals who identify as female to draw meaningful conclusions. This disparity may be due to the fact that I identify as a male, and am acquainted with more males, therefore, more males were aware of the survey.
Despite nearly half of the respondents identifying as white/caucasian, a wide range of races and ethnicities was represented.
Participants’ home states stretch from coast to coast, and some respondents were from foreign countries including India and Mexico.
The political-affiliation item also received a variety of responses, with some participants directly stating they identify as a Republican or Democrat, and others stating they are independent, or don’t identify with any specific party.
With the upfront guarantee of confidentiality, I had the first multiple-choice item ask participants where they fell on a political ideology spectrum, ranging from Left (liberal) to Right (conservative), as I believe this information will help contextualize their subsequent responses.
The results showed a diverse set of responses that covered each available choice on the spectrum. It is clear that more students identify as liberal, or left-leaning, compared to conservative, or right-leaning, which makes sense considering college campuses skew liberal; additionally, a majority of respondents currently reside at the University of Southern California, a college located in a liberal-leaning state. These margins are small, however. Also worth noting is that fewer students identify with the far ends of the spectrum, showing that a majority of individuals moderately lean toward one ideology, rather than fully endorsing a specific ideology, as can be demonstrated by a fifth of respondents identifying themselves as “center.”
Next, I wanted to establish whether or not respondents had experienced politically-charged discussions in their classes. Again, depending on their major, discussions about social issues with political undertones can vary. For example, arts and humanities classes lend themselves to such discussions whereas STEM classes may not. What I found was that an overwhelming majority of students expressed agreement or strong agreement that they had experienced politically-charged discussions in their classes, with only three respondents disagreeing. These three dissenters were a computer science major and two psychology majors. It’s understandable that computer science classes might not touch on social issues, as the content of these courses isn’t up for much interpretation. As a psychology major, I can say firsthand that I have experienced class topics and discussions with political undertones, but to a lesser degree than in my humanities classes. It’s possible that these two psychology majors truly haven’t experienced such discussions, or it’s even more likely that their definition of “politically charged” differs from mine. By politically charged, I mean discussions on social issues that elicit passionate responses from individuals with differing political ideologies. Few, if any, of my psychology classes have literally had discussions about “politics.”
Now that we have established that a vast majority of respondents agree that politically-charged discussions are taking place in their classes, I wanted to know whether or not they felt comfortable or found it difficult to share their opinions with their professors and peers. The results were fascinating. Over 50% of the respondents agreed that they find it difficult to share their opinions on politically-charged topics in class. Without even knowing their reasoning, this already raises an eyebrow, as it shows that something about these classes is inhibiting students’ comfortability in expressing their views, or at least, a perceived inability to do so. Just over 40% disagreed, indicating that they feel comfortable sharing their views. Interestingly, the “Agrees” and “Strongly Agrees” were split, whereas there were significantly more “Disagrees” and hardly any “Strongly Disagrees.” This indicates that the students who are uncomfortable sharing their opinions feel far stronger about their discomfort than those who do feel comfortable.
When I organized the responses to this item by where they fell on the political ideology spectrum, the correlation was strikingly clear: conservative and conservative-leaning students do not feel comfortable sharing their views on politically-charged topics. Of the six respondents who indicated that they leaned or were conservative, all answered “strongly agree” except one who answered “agree.” Not one of these students felt comfortable voicing their opinions; in fact, they all felt strongly that they were unable to do so. Of the students who identified as “left (liberal),” all either disagreed or strongly disagreed, while those who identified as center-left were split between “agree” and “disagree.” These results demonstrate that liberal and liberal-leaning students feel more comfortable sharing their opinions in class compared to their conservative-leaning peers, in addition to feeling less strongly overall. One possible explanation could be that the curriculum, such as textbooks and other course content, or professors also lean liberal in their ideology, making it easier for these liberal students to conform and share their opinions, as opposed to conservative students who would be going against the grain, which is inherently uncomfortable.
The next item, the belief that the classroom environment is conducive to sharing opinions on topics with political undertones, had by far the most variation, making it difficult to identify a strong correlation with ideology. Results for all but one group were varied, with some agreeing and disagreeing, and most stating “neither agree nor disagree.” If I had to postulate, I would hypothesize this means, “it depends.” Whether a classroom environment is conducive to sharing one’s opinions on politically-charged issues could depend on the professor’s awareness and openness to different views, the actual topic being discussed, and the size of the class. The one group that we can glean some understanding from was those who identified as “Left (liberal).” All three of these students indicated that they strongly agree that they find classrooms to be conducive to sharing their opinions. One potential explanation could be that these classrooms act as echo chambers, and that these liberal students feel exceedingly comfortable sharing their political views because their professors, the content of the course, and their peers are all voicing similar opinions.
If we are assuming that free speech and encouragement of all perspectives are present on college campuses, it would be contradictory for students to feel they are unable to take certain stances on political issues. Differing political opinions should not be frowned upon, nor discouraged, especially at universities that flaunt their celebration of diversity. The diversity of thought is as equally important as the diversity of identity. What’s perplexing is that nearly 70% of the respondents indicated that they feel they cannot take certain stances in the classroom, with 37% strongly agreeing. Once again, if we break this down by the political ideologies the respondents share, we find some compelling correlations. All six students who lean or identify as conservative strongly agreed that they feel there are certain stances they cannot take in the classroom when it comes to politically-charged discussions. These findings suggest that they are suppressing their own views or are being actively discouraged from sharing their true beliefs. Even students who identified as “center” and “center-left” strongly agreed or agreed with the statements, demonstrating that they are aware that some perspectives are not encouraged to be shared in the classroom. Furthermore, all students who identified as “Left (liberal)” disagreed, further highlighting the disparity. Clearly, these students have little concern expressing their viewpoints; this is a good thing, but perhaps it’s simply because the students feel more at ease since most opinions being shared in class align with their views. Essentially, it’s possible that these liberal students feel little risk in sharing their opinions because they are not likely to receive blowback.
One concern I’ve often heard in passing is “I’m scared my professor is going to fail me because we have different political ideologies.” This item also received a variety of responses, with the breakdown of ideologies also representing diverse responses. In general, liberal-leaning students are less concerned about differences in views from their professors affecting their grades and conservative students are more so, but not to a significant degree. These concerns likely vary substantially from individual to individual, and assignments rarely call for political responses; therefore, this question probably served as more of a hypothetical for the respondents than not.
Based on psychological research, we know that young adults are very conscious of how their peers view them and are afraid of disapproval, which could lead to social isolation. I was interested in determining how significantly respondents’ desire for peer approval, or fear of disapproval, factored into their willingness to express their opinions in class. The responses are practically evenly split among the respondents. However, if we group the responses by ideology, we can see that a majority of conservative-leaning students strongly agree with the statement, and a majority of liberal-leaning students disagree. A potential reason for this could be that there is a greater number of liberal students on campus, meaning that they are less likely to have non-conforming views. Conversely, conservative students are in the minority, likely holding many views that don’t conform with the majority of their peers, which contributes to their fear of experiencing social repercussions from other students for expressing their beliefs.
No individual should feel pressured to conform to the majority opinion in an environment that truly promotes the freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas. Yet, over 50% of respondents claim that they indeed have felt pressure to conform to the majority or adhere to their classmates’ political opinions. If individuals feel unable to express dissenting viewpoints, the majority opinion, even if morally good, acceptable, and effective, has the potential to stunt revolutionary ideas or growth. When differing opinions aren’t being expressed, or worse, are being suppressed, there is an increased chance of fostering an echo chamber, which allows for no creativity, or growth, and can even lead to radical ideas. The trend continues as we separate the responses by political ideology. Students who identify as “Left (liberal)” disagree or strongly disagree, and conservative-leaning students, as well as center-left students, mostly agree.
I thought it was important to hear directly from respondents regarding their experiences inside the classroom. Understanding how they feel is important, but hearing stories helps put their responses into perspective. Below are several participants’ responses, followed by their selected political ideology in parentheses.
I found the written responses to the short answer section of my survey jarring. Many conservative-leaning students and some moderate and left-leaning students expressed serious concerns about sharing their views in class and anecdotal evidence of extreme pushback from their peers and professors when dissenting. There’s a sense of hopelessness and frustration evident in these students’ responses that is heartbreaking. I’m certain that universities and professors would not want their students to have these experiences when expressing their views. The comfortability that most liberal-leaning students expressed in sharing their opinions should be the standard for everyone. Unfortunately, after reading these responses, it is clear that this is far from the case.
I went into this project hoping to get some answers to frustrations and concerns I’ve occasionally heard from my peers about their degree of comfort sharing their opinions in class regarding politically-charged topics. I never would have imagined my findings would exhibit such a strong correlation. There is no doubt that conservative students feel incredibly uncomfortable, even unable, to voice their beliefs in the classroom, whereas their liberal peers show few reservations. Do I have all the answers as to why? Not even close. But it’s clear that, if our goal is for universities to be pillars of free speech and expression, there is a problem.
Works Cited
Shapiro, Ben (2004). Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth. WND Books.
The Tenth Man (2019, March 7). Tucker Carlson | Progressive Indoctrination of US University Systems. [video]. Youtube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=IpVUqwJ9_bNKroRb&v=4Kq8zLQRarA&feature=youtu.be
