
While most Americans strongly support civics education in schools, partisan divide on DEI policies and free speech on college campuses remains
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1075966
EXCERPT: . . . These findings are encouraging. “Common ground about the civics topics students should be learning in school and how they learn them, along with strong bipartisan agreement that students should be learning multiple perspectives, holds promise for the future health of U.S. democracy,” said Saavedra.
Sharper divides on college issues. When it comes to two hot-button issues on college campuses: student free speech/protest rights and diversity, equity and inclusion policies, the political divide between Republicans and Democrats is much wider.
The survey found that while respondents expressed limited support for students’ right to protest, views across political parties were especially strong on the most disruptive forms of protest. For instance, 65-80% of respondents think it is never appropriate for students to shout down invited speakers they disagree with, write protest messages on university property or disrupt graduation ceremonies to protest. Every university response to student protest was more widely supported than even the most tolerated form of student protest (demanding financial divestment), and neither Democrats nor Republicans support institutions taking an official position on current events.
Despite this area of agreement, Republicans were more supportive of university crackdowns on student speech than Democrats. Sixty percent of Republicans believe it is never appropriate for students to protest by walking out of class, versus 33% of Democrats; and 59% of Republicans say it is always appropriate for universities to shut down protests if they interfere with learning, versus 30% of Democrats.
While the majority of Republicans (51%) do support DEI training for faculty and staff at universities, Democrats reported much higher support for DEI training (76%). Furthermore, 58% of Republicans reported that they believed it was never appropriate for job applicants to be required to submit a statement about their commitment to DEI, but only 23% of Democrats reported the same beliefs. Nearly half of Republicans (47%) said they do not support requiring DEI coursework at universities, while only 10% of Democrats reported the same.
“Despite all the media and political attention on DEI, there seem to be a lot of unformed views on the issue, probably because it’s a jargony term that many people don’t understand,” said Polikoff. “In contrast, the strength of Americans’ views—and their hostility to student free speech on campus—surprised me.”
What was learned. The report provides a fascinating look into the views of everyday U.S. adults on civics education. The many areas of bipartisan support show that perhaps the political divide in the nation is not quite as deep as some may believe... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1075966
EXCERPT: . . . These findings are encouraging. “Common ground about the civics topics students should be learning in school and how they learn them, along with strong bipartisan agreement that students should be learning multiple perspectives, holds promise for the future health of U.S. democracy,” said Saavedra.
Sharper divides on college issues. When it comes to two hot-button issues on college campuses: student free speech/protest rights and diversity, equity and inclusion policies, the political divide between Republicans and Democrats is much wider.
The survey found that while respondents expressed limited support for students’ right to protest, views across political parties were especially strong on the most disruptive forms of protest. For instance, 65-80% of respondents think it is never appropriate for students to shout down invited speakers they disagree with, write protest messages on university property or disrupt graduation ceremonies to protest. Every university response to student protest was more widely supported than even the most tolerated form of student protest (demanding financial divestment), and neither Democrats nor Republicans support institutions taking an official position on current events.
Despite this area of agreement, Republicans were more supportive of university crackdowns on student speech than Democrats. Sixty percent of Republicans believe it is never appropriate for students to protest by walking out of class, versus 33% of Democrats; and 59% of Republicans say it is always appropriate for universities to shut down protests if they interfere with learning, versus 30% of Democrats.
While the majority of Republicans (51%) do support DEI training for faculty and staff at universities, Democrats reported much higher support for DEI training (76%). Furthermore, 58% of Republicans reported that they believed it was never appropriate for job applicants to be required to submit a statement about their commitment to DEI, but only 23% of Democrats reported the same beliefs. Nearly half of Republicans (47%) said they do not support requiring DEI coursework at universities, while only 10% of Democrats reported the same.
“Despite all the media and political attention on DEI, there seem to be a lot of unformed views on the issue, probably because it’s a jargony term that many people don’t understand,” said Polikoff. “In contrast, the strength of Americans’ views—and their hostility to student free speech on campus—surprised me.”
What was learned. The report provides a fascinating look into the views of everyday U.S. adults on civics education. The many areas of bipartisan support show that perhaps the political divide in the nation is not quite as deep as some may believe... (MORE - missing details, no ads)