<p>The areas around the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro have lots of transplants who have played a part in changing NC’s political map. I also agree that college campuses tend to be more liberal than average, no matter where they are located. Still, my own personal experience in NC has been that overall it is still pretty conservative, even among those with advanced degrees. My husband is a physician and there weren’t too many people from that crowd who were interested in going to the Obama rally with me when he came to town. I am a teacher and found a few more interested folks at my job, but it wasn’t overwhelming. I did go to the rally and one of the most moving parts of the experience was being part of the very diverse crowd.</p>
<p>SBR, here is a good article about a study of Phds.<br>
[College</a> Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds (washingtonpost.com)](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html]College”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html)</p>
<p>Phds are some of the most liberal people in America, and it is overwhelming. 83% of faculty at highly rated institutions are liberal while 13% are conservative. </p>
<p>And rcwhite, I was not insinuating that at all, but thank you for trying to read my mind. Rather I was “insinuating” that people from those coasts view themselves as enlightened while they see the rest of America as ignorant. I do not view those people as enlightened, certainly not anymore enlightened than anyone else. I was again referring to the fact that they view the middle of the US as barren farmland. Just think of West Virginia stereotypes and apply it to the rest of the middle of the country. I was referring to that commonly-held perception. You are trying to apply meaning to my words that is unintended and unspoken. This is blatant straw man reasoning: [Straw</a> man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man]Straw”>Straw man - Wikipedia).</p>
<p>Let me give you an example. California and the east coast also have the highest cost of living in the United States. Perhaps I was insinuating that cost of living corresponds to enlightenment. You are trying to apply meaning that just isn’t there and was not intended. </p>
<p>Here is an article again showing Blue states to be more highly-educated than red states:
[Democrats</a> & Liberals: Education: Kryptonite To Republicans?](<a href=“http://www.watchblog.com/democrats/archives/005153.html]Democrats”>http://www.watchblog.com/democrats/archives/005153.html)</p>
<p>OSUforMe, that Washington Post article is not a study of PhD’s. It’s a study of a particular subset of people who almost always are PhDs. </p>
<p>In fact I would argue that very few PhDs end up as full time faculty in academia as that career is by nature very competitive. </p>
<p>To add to that, the article mentions that it’s data is more than 10 years old and that discrimination based on ideology in hiring decisions may have had a very real impact on the results. </p>
<p>Based on the above I would take the assertion that PhD’s are overwhelmingly liberal with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Hey no problem OSUforme I am not trying to force my ideals upon you or get into a ****ing contest, so to speak. I was just saying from the first comment that started all this it seemed as though you were coming off a certain way. I live in California and of all places, southern California, where it is very liberal and it is quite hard to have a conversation with a liberal out here or they do think, as you said of you as a hick or closed minded. I am conservative and just can’t stand how those from LA, SF, Boston or NYC think they are just so superior to you and “enlightened” if they vote differently than you. At the beginning I thought you were enforcing the stereotype rather than putting your spin on it, so my apologies.</p>
<p>rcwhite, I honestly appreciate that. I see why you got that impression, it’s just that I was not trying to imply that at all. I will be working in NY next year in an industry that perceives middle America as a source of stupidity and mom and pop shops which can be easily exploited. It gets really old, and I just feel like a lot of people have that impression of Duke which is very misguided. </p>
<p>“In fact I would argue that very few PhDs end up as full time faculty in academia as that career is by nature very competitive”</p>
<p>Ah SBR, I believe that argument falls into your criteria of, “Where did that little factoid come from? You can’t just make up things and then state it as fact…” 
</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I doubt there is significant information to prove one way or the other what Phd’s vote. </p>
<p>However, many Phd candidates pursue careers in academia : <a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf09317/pdf/tab12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf09317/pdf/tab12.pdf</a></p>
<p>That is a 2006 government report on the number of phd’s and their employment options. 47.1% enter academia, 43% at 4-year institutions. So it is quite a bit more than very few. Now lets consider only this 47.1%. </p>
<p>If we use the Washington Post article as a reference, 72% of these 47.1% are liberal. This leads to 33.9% of all Phds who are liberal (completely ignoring 52.9% of the population). </p>
<p>If we see that 33.9% of Phds are liberal, even when we have not accounted for 53% of the population group, I think it is convincing that Phd’s are pretty liberal. </p>
<p>There simply is no definitive study to prove one way or the other. I’m convinced. Reading this information has only made me more so. But if I have not convinced you, I shall leave it at that. I have found, imo, the most relevant information available. Even if some of it is from 10 years ago.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that I believe PhDs are not liberal. They are, but I’m not convinced they are overwhelmingly liberal. </p>
<p>While I’m too lazy to look up statistics, it’s relatively easy to point to anecdotal evidence regarding number of PhDs and full-time faculties. Looking at any particular institution as a microcosm, how many faculty hirings are there a year? Take that and compare to how many PhD candidate or graduates there are and it’s easy to see the disparity. A 43% employment rate at 4-year institutions means next to nothing because many of those PhDs are postdocs, which are not full time faculty positions. Anecdotally, one can take the total number of PhD’s at Duke and calculate the percentage that are full time faculty. </p>
<p>Anyway, 34% is pretty liberal. But then again, I was merely trying to point out that having a high concentration of PhDs do not support the argument that they are or cause overwhelming liberalness to result.</p>
<p>Interesting article relating to this discussion. Warning: not a 10-minute read. But very, very informative regarding Duke and the general U.S. university professor population.</p>
<p>[The</a> Decline and Revival of Liberal Learning at Duke: The Focus and Gerst Programs | The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy](<a href=“The Decline and Revival of Liberal Learning at Duke: The Focus and Gerst Programs — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal”>The Decline and Revival of Liberal Learning at Duke: The Focus and Gerst Programs — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal)</p>