Though there is constant skepticism regarding the political preferences of political science professors, most every professor comes under the scrutiny of students' curiosity during election years.
Soren Jordan, assistant political science professor, said he personally doesn't share his election preferences with students for two reasons.
"The first is that, no matter what my preferences are, students who do not share those preferences will begin to tune me out in lecture when they disagree with the material," Jordan said. "The point of class is to reason based on fact and science, not to judge based on personal preferences."
Listening to students' different perspectives also helps him develop a more worldly view of politics, Jordan said.
"The second is that I am interested in the election as a political scientist," Jordan said. "Political scientists seek to understand the world systematically, to understand why things happen."
Jordan said sharing his personal political views would harm his students' ability to have lecture discussions with him.
"It would polarize feelings about me, depending on if we’re on the same 'side'," Jordan said.
Subjectivity is inevitable when it comes to talking about personal beliefs, Jordan said.
"In a scientific world, we try to limit our subjectivity and keep our preferences from interfering with our observations," Jordan said. "In that world, the way I want to talk about the election is still without my 'personal stance'...and if I did 'talk politics' in class with my students, that’s how i think it would affect the relationship."
Classroom conversations are most enjoyable and beneficial to the student learning experience when they remain factual, Jordan said.
"I think most professors, though, think of ourselves in the same way, which is why it is 'controversial' to talk politics with students," Jordan said. "Most would agree that they love having factual, grounded conversations about political topics, as long as the conversations stay that way."
Jordan said taking a factual approach to political discussions is a good life lesson for students to develop critical thinking skills to be used throughout their lives.
"[College is all about] learning how to think critically about the world around us, including elections," Jordan said. "But personal opinion doesn’t have a place in those conversations, and it detracts away the value of the conversations we want to have."
The recent growth of social media over the last few years has played a role in reinforcing people's personal beliefs, Jordan said.
"The interesting thing about social media is that most research has demonstrated that it is an echo chamber," Jordan said. "Meaning that when we go to our media, we hear our opinions voiced back to us, which reinforces our viewpoint."
Jordan said although many people want to learn more about politics, their interest often stifles due to their desires to avoid being exposed to counter-attitudinal information.
"My favorite piece of advice is to remember that there are more elections than simply the one for president, and they will all be on the same ballot," Jordan said. "We hear the most information about the presidential election, but in some states, that is the election in which your vote matters the least."
It's essential to take full advantage of the opportunity to vote in every election, Jordan said.
"Elections for the House of Representatives -- every year --, the Senate -- every two/four years --, state legislatures, even local school boards and propositions: all of these affect your life much more closely, but we are usually not prepared to vote in them," Jordan said. "Take the time to be informed about these 'down ballot' races."
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