Higher education needs more conservative professors to improve the quality of its scholarship.
New research “suggests researchers who are more open to other disciplines and worldviews produce higher-quality research,” according to Inside Higher Ed.
The paper, in the Journal of Translational Medicine and Epidemiology, analyzed “transdisciplinary orientation,” the willingness of researchers to work across academic fields, on various projects. It found that those more open to cross-discipline work published articles “with higher potential societal impact,” possibly by opening themselves up to other thought processes.
Overall, researchers “were more successful in synthesizing concepts, ideas, or methods from multiple disciplines and extending the boundaries of any single discipline.” When academics escape their academic bubble, the research benefits.
Though more research is necessary, the paper implies that the current “closeted conservative” phenomenon of professors hurts academic quality, both in research and in teaching. With the ideological imbalance in the academy, research isn’t as rigorous as it could be.
The Atlantic confronted that issue in an interview with Jon A. Shields and Joshua M. Dunn Sr., authors of Passing on the Right, about conservative professors.
“People find different kinds of questions interesting and certain interpretations more plausible than others. It’s not going to go away. That’s why you need a range of [professors’ beliefs] so that they can check one another,” Shields said.
The discussions, arguments, and approaches that liberal and conservative professors take can flesh out surprising results. Intellectual freedom protects ideological diversity on campus, but unless universities keep in mind the benefits of some heterodox professors, they’re missing the opportunity to produce higher-quality research and ideas.
If a sociology department keeps a token conservative, its students benefit from having someone willing to challenge their colleagues on deeply held beliefs.
“Liberals and conservatives carry different kinds of wisdom with them,” Shields said. If students only hear liberal wisdom, they’re deprived of a more robust education.
