‘Diploma divide’ puts US colleges in ‘cross hairs’ of culture war

US institutions have found themselves in the “cross hairs” of a culture war as a result of the diploma divide that they helped create, a professor claims.

In recent decades, white, well-educated voters have switched their allegiance to the Democrats in droves, while those who did not graduate from college have moved towards the Republicans.

Ahead of the 5 November election, this “diploma divide” represents the most defining recent shift in support for both parties since the mid-20th century, according to Matt Grossman, professor of political science at Michigan State University.

Professor Grossman, who is also director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State, said this trend could be seen across much of the Western world, but the two-party system of the US makes it even more of a factor.

“You can’t have the anti-immigration, nativist party representing the lower educated, so it has to occur within the Republican party. You can’t have a green party or liberal party representing rich, educated liberals, so it has to occur within the Democratic Party.

“That means that these self-reinforcing trends are more likely to continue and more polarising in the United States than elsewhere.”

Professor Grossman said the 2024 cycle was likely to see these trends extend into minority voters as well – with a risk for vice-president Kamala Harris that it divides typically Democratic Hispanic voters.

In his new book, Polarized by Degrees, co-written with David Hopkins, an associate professor at Boston College, he explains how rising education levels, along with shifting relations between social groups and evolving language and behaviour norms, have polarised the nation’s political climate and “ignited a perpetual culture war”.

“There really is a widespread feeling among Republican voters – not just Republican elites – that universities are liberal, that they’re not representing conservative perspectives, and that does matter for their trust in universities and scientists and everything else,” said Professor Grossman.

And in a society with such a big divide between the college-educated and the non-college-educated, long-running differences between professors and the public are now “much more salient”.

With three university presidents forced to resign as a result of missteps around the Gaza protests, he said institutions have found themselves in the “cross hairs” of these battles – but warned that they have not yet recognised the danger.

“They think it’s about this specific set of issues, these circumstances, these protests, and I don’t think that they’ve yet come to terms with [the fact] that this is actually widespread public feeling now, and it threatens their role.

“If you are heading an institution that is now affiliated with one side of a two-sided political debate…that’s a very tough position to be in for institutions that want to be above the fray.”

It is unlikely universities can fix this problem, but they can avoid making it worse, according to Professor Grossman – and that starts by acknowledging that while experts have greater knowledge than the public, they also have different convictions.

“I think we’re being too defensive that we do have distinct values and interests and there’s a reason that conservatives are complaining about colleges and universities being unrepresentative.

“The idea that this is just about knowledge that the people who are complaining don’t have and therefore that’s why they’re disagreeing, I think that's part of the problem.”

Laura Smith, an assistant teaching professor at Arizona State University and a presidential historian, said Kamala Harris’ campaign for 2024 has focused on broader opportunities besides diplomas – a shift that her party has made since the “crumbling” of the Blue Wall in 2016.

Dr Smith said many white working-class non-college-educated men have been so put off by the Democrats’ association with “coastal educated elitism” they overlook the fact that Trump himself is part of the coastal educated elite.

“On education, the Harris campaign continues to try and pitch itself away from the label of California liberal and meet Middle America where they are.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com