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Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 12 to 1 in the social sciences, research finds

If academic quality is harmed by ideological skew, then the social sciences are a rotting carcass.

A new study of economics, history, journalism/communications, law and psychology departments at 40 “leading” U.S. universities finds that Democrats outnumber Republicans 11.5 to 1 – a gap that has widened since 2004, “and the age profile suggests that in the future they will be even higher.”

The skew is most pronounced in history (33.5:1) and journalism/communications (20:1) and least in economics (4.5:1), according to the study published in Econ Journal Watch.

Some other notable findings from the full report, which looked at 7,243 professors: “the ratios are higher at more prestigious universities and lower among older professors and among professors with higher-ranking titles” – hence the widening gap among younger academics who are coming up.

The report also found that nearly 46 percent of professors are neither Rs nor Ds. The actual percentage of Republicans in the reviewed departments is 4.3.

The widest ratio gaps: Brown University (60:1), Boston University (40:1), Rochester and Johns Hopkins (each 35:1) and Northeastern (32:1). There’s a startling gap between the top two schools in U.S. News rankings: Princeton’s ratio is 30:1, while Harvard’s is 10:1.

The most even ratio is from Pepperdine University (1.2:1), perhaps because of its affiliation with the Churches of Christ.

The authors are Mitchell Langbert, associate professor of business at Brooklyn College; Anthony Quain, a “health economics solutions” developer; and Daniel Klein, the journal’s editor and economics professor at George Mason University.

Read the report (h/t Inside Higher Ed).

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