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Over at the Monkey Cage:More Adaptive Complexity articles
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Fact: Academicians tend to be politically differentiated according to discipline, with those in the social sciences and humanities on the left, those in the natural sciences in the middle, and those in engineering and business on the right.
Argument: This is no coincidence. Students’ political attitudes are being shaped by their professors.
Counterargument: Agreed. It’s not a coincidence. But the operative force is self-selection, not socialization.
I haven't seen any surveys, but this characterization of political differentiation jives with what I've seen. Of course no discipline is homogeneous.
As for why it works out this way? My vote is largely for self-selection. The notion that students on the right or in the middle are converted to lefties by left-wing professors is frankly crazy: there is no way professors have that much power. Professors probably do more to shape the political attitudes of students who are already leaning in the direction of a professors' beliefs.
No one wants to look like they are in the bag for a political party but if academia in the US is over 80% Democrat overall and 72% of professors deny any liberal bias exists, it's because they are liberal. There aren't enough humanities/social science people to tilt things to 85% if you guys are in the middle and business and engineering are on the right. That has no impact on students? In 1984 I was in college and convinced Walter Mondale would get 60% of the vote over Reagan yet he lost in a landslide.
If no such tilting can occur due to that, then billions of dollars spent on advertising is a waste. Obama changed his mind about taking public financing during the election so he could raise and outspend McCain by 2 to 1, some $300 million to get his 53% total - and the bulk of his spending did not go to awareness of issues at colleges, it went to 'get out the vote' campaigns. He knew they were already voting Democrat, he just needed to make sure they showed up.
Some of this is a youthful demographic, of course. Young people are more liberal and idealistic. Heck, I am vaguely suspicious of young conservatives because they seem rather jaded and young people should believe that government spending and regulation and trying really hard can meaningfully change people's lives even if they don't want to be changed. Experience and age tells us otherwise, so I am also vaguely suspicious of old liberals because they come across as shrill and a little kooky.
I don't think a liberal tilt in science is a bad thing. Idealized notions about what we can accomplish if we care make this whole site possible. But we're a science site and about as neutral as can be, yet how many actual Republicans/conservatives/right wing people are here? Self selection is just a way for people to say, "I am not being manipulated" - even if they are.