On Campus

Not so left-wing after all

Study finds Canadian professors hold moderate political views

The belief that Canadian universities are dominated by left-wing professors is “overdrawn,” according to a new study in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education. Using data from the 2000 survey, The Academic Profession in Canada, University of Windsor Sociologist Reza Nakhai and the University of Toronto’s Robert Brym found that 33.3 per cent of professors identified as being left wing, 61.5 per cent as centre, and 5.2 per cent as right wing. While the study shows that a majority of professors identify as centrist, as a group they are more left-wing than the general population. The Canadian Election Study 2000 found that 18.7 per cent of Canadians identified themselves as on the left, 55.5 per cent as centrist and 25.8 per cent as on the right. The study suggests that “contemporary characterizations of the North American professoriate as left or right-leaning tend to be overdrawn.”

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