Approximately 1-in-3 Canadian university students fear formal consequences for expressing honest viewpoints in class

By Matthew D. Mitchell and Michael Zwaagstra of The Fraser Institute.

Canadian Students Are Getting a One-Sided University Education

• A new survey finds that right-leaning university students feel considerably more restricted than left-leaning students in expressing their views during class discussions. They are fearful of consequences such as their formal grades being lowered for having the “wrong” opinion.
• Left-leaning political viewpoints are dominant on university campuses. Fifty-five percent of students describe their political views as left-leaning, while only 15% consider themselves right-leaning.
• A majority of students, both right-leaning and left-leaning, believe that there is a “safe” political view on controversial topics discussed in university classes.
• Forty-two percent of right-leaning students said that they experienced a classroom environment at university that limited discussion and questions on controversial topics to only one side of the argument. In contrast, only 29% of left-leaning students had this experience.
• Among students who say their professors advocate a view, eighty-three percent of right-leaning students feel their professors promoted a left viewpoint, while 45% of left-leaning students feel the same way. Few students, left, centre, or right, believe their professors promote a right viewpoint.
• Among right-leaning students who feared experiencing formal consequences for expressing the “wrong” viewpoint during class discussions, 74% feared that the professor might lower their grades.