{"id":117711,"date":"2026-07-06T14:05:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117711"},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:05:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:05:50","slug":"117711","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117711","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0Study finds nearly 90 percent of students fake progressive views to appease liberal professors.<\/a><\/p>\n

College students at Northwestern and the University of Michigan increasingly hide their conservative beliefs, with 88 percent admitting to faking progressive views to succeed academically or socially.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers warn that this climate of ideological conformity suppresses authentic expression and encourages performative morality among both students and professors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Patrick McDonald\u00a0’29<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Michigan Correspondent<\/p>\n

A new study has concluded that college students are increasingly faking conformity to liberal opinions in order to academically succeed.<\/p>\n

The study, published on Aug. 12, was spearheaded by Northwestern University researchers Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman.<\/p>\n

Between 2023 and 2025, the researchers\u00a0conducted<\/a>\u00a01,452 confidential interviews with undergraduate students at both Northwestern University and the University of Michigan to examine how ideological pressure influences students\u2019 beliefs.<\/p>\n

They found that 88 percent of students admitted to pretending to harbor more progressive views than they genuinely endorse with the aim of succeeding academically or socially.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not fault students for perpetuating a climate that is hostile to intellectual integrity,\u201d Romm and Waldman wrote about the results. \u201cWe fault the faculty, administrators, and institutional leaders who built a system that rewards moral theater while punishing inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 80 percent of surveyed students reported submitting classwork misrepresenting their true beliefs.<\/p>\n

Regarding controversial topics such as gender, politics, and family, students consistently censored themselves. While 77 percent said they disagreed with the idea that gender identity should override biological sex in contexts like sports and healthcare, virtually none felt safe voicing that view.<\/p>\n

Romm and Waldman argue that the climate of compliance in higher education undermines identity formation\u2014replacing conviction with performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese students were not cynical, but adaptive,\u201d they wrote. \u201cIn a campus environment where grades, leadership, and peer belonging often hinge on fluency in performative morality, young adults quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waldman told\u00a0Campus Reform<\/em>\u00a0that one of the \u201cmost compelling\u201d findings of the study is the \u201crole of fear\u201d in the findings, and that the same influences affect students and professors alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur data suggest that many professors, concerned about professional repercussions or cancellation, engage in performative displays of progressive orthodoxy rather than authentic expression,\u201d said Waldman.<\/p>\n

Romm added that, without open inquiry, \u201cwe risk continued erosion of social cohesion, growing distrust, and a decline in the cognitive skills necessary to navigate complex societal challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative students have historically faced backlash for their beliefs on college campuses. Last year,\u00a0Fox News<\/a>\u00a0interviewed college students who said they felt unable to express conservative opinions at their respective institutions.<\/p>\n

Belmont University student Mya Conrad described being \u201cyelled at\u201d by professors, while Wisconsin students William Blathras and Gaby Gerard reported fearing academic consequences.<\/p>\n

Campus Reform<\/em>\u00a0has contacted Forest Romm for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Study finds nearly 90 percent of students fake progressive views to appease liberal professors. College students at Northwestern and the University of Michigan increasingly hide their conservative beliefs, with 88 percent admitting to faking progressive views to succeed academically or socially. Researchers warn that this climate of ideological conformity suppresses authentic expression and encourages performative … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117712,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117711\/revisions\/117712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}