Despite assumptions in some quarters of widespread academic radicalism, professors are politically liberal but on the whole democratically tolerant and are focused more on the business of research and teaching than on trying to change the world.

Professors and Their Politics tackles the assumption that universities are ivory towers of radicalism with the potential to corrupt conservative youth. Neil Gross and Solon Simmons gather the work of leading sociologists, historians, and other researchers interested in the relationship between politics and higher education to present evidence to the contrary. In eleven meaty chapters, contributors describe the political makeup of American academia today, consider the causes of its liberal tilt, discuss the college experience for politically conservative students, and delve into historical debates about professorial politics.

Offering readable, rigorous analyses rather than polemics, Professors and Their Politics yields important new insights into the nature of higher education institutions while challenging dogmas of both the left and the right.

Neil Gross is a professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia and author of Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care? and Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher.

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Solon Simmons is an associate professor in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and author of The Eclipse of Equality: Arguing America on Meet the Press.

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"Professors and Their Politics has value for all professionals associated with American higher education. The various studies in the book make a case for why progressive values are dominant among those who enter vocations associated with colleges and universities, as well as how these values shape research agendas, hiring practices, and treatment of students. If their conclusions are correct, and the various authors have provided data to support verifiable conclusions, the political life of the academy is a sign of its vitality, not a cause of its crisis, and the vitality of the academy includes more support for diversity of thought, especially among students, than common stereotypes assume. This volume makes an important contribution to understanding the culture of contemporary higher education."

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