A narrative of conservative student affairs professionals: Silenced in an inclusive profession?

Abstract

Public universities are often perceived as predominantly liberal environments where conservative voices are silenced. This stands in contrast to the idea that higher education, and student affairs in particular, should foster an environment in which multiple perspectives are valued. In this narrative study, we share the stories of ten self-identified conservative student affairs professionals and their experience at a public institution of higher education. To inform our study we used the spiral of silence theory, which suggests individuals having opinions diverging from the majority will remain silent about their beliefs rather than face negative consequences. Data analysis and findings provide an understanding of how conservative ideology influenced relationships, professional engagement and overall work environment.

Felt Respect in Political Discussions With Contrary-Minded Others

“…Yet, by no means can the constructiveness of these discussions be taken for granted: Worldview conflicts are the primary driver of intergroup prejudice (Brandt & Crawford, 2020), and people select into ideologically homogeneous communities with relatively little opportunity to engage over differences (Levy & Razin, 2019;Minozzi et al, 2020). In addition, people's tendency to silence themselves in ideologically dissimilar surroundings further diminishes the prevalence of controversial discussions (Matthes et al, 2018;Davis et al, 2020). Even when controversial discussions occur, considerable pitfalls must be avoided: Divisive issues tend to make people feel threatened (Simons & Green, 2018), and threat stirs up the use of pre-emptive aggression (De Dreu & Gross, 2019;Böhm et al, 2018).…”