Professors are liberal because they’re typecast that way

Why are professors so liberal?  Why are computer science majors mostly male and white or Asian?  One possible answer is the same for each — that’s what we’ve been raised to expect.  Typecasting may explain the liberalness of professors, and why nursing is predominantly female.

A pair of sociologists think they may have an answer: typecasting. Conjure up the classic image of a humanities or social sciences professor, the fields where the imbalance is greatest: tweed jacket, pipe, nerdy, longwinded, secular — and liberal. Even though that may be an outdated stereotype, it influences younger people’s ideas about what they want to be when they grow up.

via Professor Is a Label That Leans to the Left – NYTimes.com.