However, those that answered affirmatively to the presence of political bias in campus classrooms said they perceived greater liberal bias (47%) than conservative bias (11%). 42% said they perceived there to be bias in both a liberal and conservative light.

Faculty don’t know they’re doing it, according to students

Nevertheless, a large portion, 71%, of those that perceived a bias did not think faculty were intentionally indoctrinating students. Just 52 students in the poll saw bias and said faculty were purposefully teaching from a politically biased perspective. This suggests students trust that their instructors are transparent educators.

Do ideological differences play a part?

Taking the ideological differences of students into account, students’ perceptions of bias on campus did not shift according to whether they were a self-identified liberal or conservative in social and economic issues.* The survey asked students to pinpoint themselves on a scale ranging from very liberal to very conservative with moderate being the midpoint. Half of the sample was asked to identify themselves on the scale in social issues, and the other half on economic issues to better measure the differences social and economic ideology may contribute towards bias perception.

Only 17% of social liberals said there was faculty bias, while 58% said there was no faculty bias. 19% of social conservatives said yes, and 62% said no. Among those that answered the question regarding economic ideology, 30% of economic liberals said faculty were indeed politically biased, while 55% said no. 26% of economic conservatives also felt there was bias, but still the majority, 66% of economic conservatives, said there was not. Most students, regardless of where they stand on social and economic issues, do not perceive any political bias from the faculty.

Students divided on their vulnerability

Among students who saw bias, about half (47%) of them also thought that politically biased teaching changed NCSU students’ beliefs. On the other hand, 42% of those that thought faculty were politically biased did not think NCSU students were susceptible to bias, while the remainder had no opinion. Interestingly, many students who said the faculty was not biased (41%) still thought it could affect students, at least in principle. While the numbers show that there is a difference where we might expect—that is, those that see bias are also more likely to think students are influenced, and those that don’t see a bias are less likely to think students are influenced—the difference is marginal.

*Note:  The above discussion of relationships between perceptions of bias and other answers are nearly identical when we substitute the faculty bias question with the wording about “courses taught from a politically biased perspective.”

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A Path to Citizenship

A path to citizenship has been a key component in the nation’s immigration debate. Immigrants who arrived to the U.S. illegally would have a chance to become citizens after paying a fine, proving gainful employment, evidence of taxes paid, and becoming proficient in English.

Respondents were asked, “Overall, do you favor or oppose providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants?” A large majority of students (70%) said they support a path, with just 30% opposed to it.

The Pack Poll asked some students a slightly different version of this question about citizenship. In this alternative version, respondents were asked, “Overall, do you favor or oppose a path to legal status, but not citizenship, for illegal immigrants?” Although the results were similar, slightly fewer were in favor legal status without citizenship. Of the respondents that answered this question, 66% favored and 34% opposed. This finding suggests a small percentage of students do not support reforms short of full citizenship, although the small difference in preferences could also be the result of sampling error.

The DREAM Act

Similar numbers correspond to students’ take on the DREAM Act. Following prior language of the legislation, we asked a random subset of students if they supported or opposed the Act, “which would allow children of undocumented immigrants who have grown up in America to attain legal residency status if they complete college.” In this version, 79% of students expressed support for the Act. Another subset of students were asked a slightly different version of the question that now included a military component. They were asked, “Do you support or oppose the ‘DREAM Act,’ which would allow children of undocumented immigrants who have grown up in America to attain legal residency status if they complete college or serve in the U.S. military?” The added military requirement was associated with an increase in support, up to 85%.

Clear Partisan Divide on Immigration Issue

Partisan division on the national level about immigration policies is also reflected among the N.C. State student population. Perhaps unsurprisingly, N.C. State students that identified themselves as Democrats were more favorable about providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants than those who called themselves Republicans.

Overall, do you favor or oppose providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants? 

	Favor	Oppose
Republican	47.7%	52.3%
Democrat	89.5%	10.5%
Independent	75.3%	24.7%
Other	73.7%	29.7%

In response to “Do you favor or oppose providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants?” With Republicans, there is deep division: 47.7% of Republicans said they support the path while 52.3% said they opposed it. As for Democrats, the majority, 89.5%, support the path, with just 10.5% opposed to it.

Among the group of respondents that were asked, “Overall, do you favor or oppose a path to legal status, but not citizenship, for illegal immigrants?” the effect of question wording proved to make a difference in partisan attitudes, albeit minor. Republican support went up three percentage points. The change among Democratic attitudes was slightly more significant, with support down by 12 percentage points.

Overall, do you favor or oppose a path to legal status, but not citizenship, for illegal immigrants?

	Favor	Oppose
Republican	50.7%	49.3%
Democrat	77.5%	22.5%
Independent	71.8%	28.2%
Other	65.9%	34.1%

While the difference in response attitudes to both questions were not stark, there was nevertheless a distinction – the more noticeable one being self-identified Democrats tended to be less supportive of an immigration policy that did not encompass full citizenship. The second alternative to the “split-ballot” question noted “legal status” could be the obtained via the path, but still student Democrats are not satisfied if full citizenship for immigrants is not a component.

Assault Weapons Ban

When asked if they “support or oppose banning the sale of assault weapons,” N.C. State students were more likely to oppose it (55%) than to support it (45%). A recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) shows N.C. voters are at odds with State students on the issue. According to PPP, 50% of NC voters would support an assault weapons ban while just 41% opposed it. This isn’t the first time N.C. State students disagreed with the N.C. electorate. In 2012, the Pack Poll found that N.C. State students overwhelmingly opposed N.C. Amendment 1, which passed with ease during the 2012 primary.

Banning Versus “Buying”

Some students, though, were asked a slightly different version of the question about assault weapons. Roughly half of the sample was randomly assigned to read a question that asked instead of banning, “Do you support or oppose being able to buy assault weapons?” We changed the normal wording of the question to reflect a logically equivalent but opposite behavior (banning versus buying).

The word “ban,” which is commonly used by most survey firms, seems to slightly affect the opinions of respondents. The Pack Poll finds that support for eradicating the sale of assault weapons rises slightly when “buying” is used.  Now, 49% say they oppose people being able to buy assault weapons.  The size of the increase in opposition (4%), though, is statistically insignificant, but the direction of the effect suggests more attention to language in question wording is warranted. Our finding could mean that forceful words such as “ban” actually deter some people from supporting concepts they otherwise might be in favor of.

Background Checks

Students overwhelmingly support requiring background checks for all gun buyers (96%). The vast majority of Republicans (94%) favor background checks, while virtually all Democrats (99%) agree.

K-12 Schools and Guns

Some of the most intriguing results are about students’ preferences for possibly arming teachers and principals in K-12 schools. A sizable majority of students support allowing school principals access to a firearm in case of and emergency at the school (68%). Support drops, though, when instead of asking about “principals” the question asks about “teachers.”  Only a slim majority (52%) supports allowing teachers access to guns.

Concealed Carry Correlated with Gender, Polarized with Age

As State students matriculate from Frosh to Seniors, their opinions about allowing other students aged 21 and older to carry concealed weapons on campus become more polarized. Among freshman, 41% have a “strongly” held belief, one way or another (support or oppose concealed carry on campus). Among seniors, 53% have a “strongly” held belief. In addition, seniors are more likely to support concealed carry on campus than any other grade level; 42% support this idea. Conversely, freshmen were the most opposed to concealed carry, with only 31% in favor of it.

Gender is also important for understanding attitudes this issue. Roughly half of male respondents feel the same way.

A previous survey conducted by the Pack Poll in January found similar results about concealed carry policies. Not surprisingly that survey showed that allowing concealed guns on campus was very unpopular among Democrats (18%), women (33%), and non-gun owners (26%), but was more popular among men (48%), Republicans (62%) and gun owners (52%). *Note: the percentages reflect those in favor of allowing concealed weapons to be carried by N.C. State students aged 21 and older.

Independents Split Issue by Issue, Swayed by Question Wording

Those who call themselves political Independents were often influenced by changes in how the gun questions were asked. For example, only 42% of independents said they supported an assault weapons ban. However, when asked if they would support being able to buy assault weapons, 55% oppose assault weapons purchases. Furthermore, a clear majority of independents (78%) would grant K-12 principals access to a gun in case of emergency, but just 48% of them would grant teachers access to guns. Independents also oppose concealed carry on campus (64%).

Methodology

The survey was conducted between February 20–25, and conducted online using Qualtrics survey software. Every undergraduate had an equal probability of being invited to take the survey. This was accomplished by drawing a random sample of 4,000 students’ emails. These students were then sent an email inviting them to take part in the Pack Poll.

A total of 963 undergraduate students started the survey, and 923 completed it. The response rate for starting the survey is 24% and 23% for completing it. The margin of sampling error is +/-3.1% for questions with the maximum response rate, but increases for questions in which the response rate is lower. For example, in split-ballot questions, the number of respondents answering each question is cut roughly in half, raising the margin of sampling error to about +/-4.4% for those questions.

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Obama’s Approval

The spring 2013 Pack Poll measured students’ approval of the president for the sixth continuous semester, all of which Obama has been in office. This time, however, we also experimented with estimating how much Obama’s approval rating was affected by the inclusion/exclusion of a “no opinion” answer option. It matters a lot.

When students were asked whether they approve or disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job as president, and students were not offered a “no opinion” answer option, a majority (55%) said that they approved. On the other hand, if students could choose “no opinion,” the plurality disapproved of the way Obama is handling his job as president. Now, 46% of respondents disapproved, while just 41% approved (13% said that they had no opinion).

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In previous semesters that Obama’s approval rating has been measured, students were more often given a “no opinion” option, and those results were similar to this semester’s.  That is, when students in past semesters were allowed to say, “no opinion,” a majority of respondents disapproved of Obama’s performance. In the Fall 2012 semester, however, when students were forced to choose, half approved of the president’s handling his job and half disapproved. This split indicates that the “no opinion” option significantly impact on responses; when students are prodded to pick a choice, they will more likely approve of Obama when they truly have no opinion.

 Direction of country and N.C. State

Also for the sixth semester in a row, students were asked whether they thought things in our country are headed in the wrong or right direction. This semester—as in the previous semesters—a majority (57%) of students said that the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction.

When compared to national data, the majority of adults in the U.S. also say that the country is headed in the wrong direction. The website “Pollster” takes an average of the results of the most common pollsters. It is clear that in the past three years, a greater percent of people say that the country is heading in the wrong direction. In 2012, Pollster estimated that the majority (60%) thought the country is headed in the wrong direction, while about 30% thought it was the right direction. Around the fall of 2011 there was a bump in the “wrong direction” percent; it goes up to as high as 74%, while the “right direction decreases to as low as 17%. In 2010, there is a steady increase in the “wrong direction” percent; however, overall the percentages stay around 60 “wrong direction,” as in 2012.

Ultimately, when looking at the national numbers, N.C. State’s results look very similar. It appears that a slightly greater percent, nationally, say they the country is headed in the wrong direction (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/07/issue-rdwt_n_725763.html).

However, when asked whether N.C. State was generally headed in the right or wrong direction, most students had a positive perspective. Indeed, just 15% said the university was headed in the wrong direction. While most say the direction of NCSU is going in the right direction, this percentage is actually lower than we obtained in spring of 2012 (92% said “right direction”). It is, though, consistent with our polling in 2011, which found just 15% thought State was heading in the wrong direction.

Economy

Students were also asked what they thought about the condition of the nation’s economy over the past year. The plurality (42%) said that the economy had stayed the same. Of the reminder, slightly more (34%) said that the condition of the economy had improved rather than worsened (24%). In 2010, when we last asked this question, 39% thought the nation’s economy was improved, while 35% said it had gotten worse and 26% thought it has stayed the same.

The Pack Poll found that 91% of Wolfpack undergraduates have a Facebook profile that they regularly access. Mark Zuckerburg’s brainchild has over one billion monthly active users around the world, according to Facebook’s Key Facts. However, the Pew Internet and American Life Project has found that there is considerable volatility in Facebook user pool. Out of the 67% of American adults that use Facebook, “61% say that at one time or another in the past they have voluntarily taken a break from using Facebook for a period of several weeks or more.”

Americans are tired of Facebook. The most common reasons for taking a break include being too busy (21%), disinterested users (10%), or using Facebook was waste of time (10%).

Although, Facebook use and favorability may be in a decline, Internet accessibility data suggests that the World Wide Web usage will only increase. According to Pew Research, as of September, 2012, over 80% of American Adults use the Internet, and 66% have access to broadband Internet as of April 2012. On N.C. State’s campus, all students have access to the Internet, and success in the classroom almost always requires using Internet resources. But, if we aren’t wasting our time on Facebook, what are we doing on the Internet?

Besides a slew of other social media sites, as the web continues to develop, the line between interaction and information will become increasingly blurred.

The Internet has a nearly ubiquitous social layer. Even the Pack Poll site has a comments section that’s socially engaging. However, most sites and applications prioritize their goals to either broadcast or socially engage before they do the other. Developers mix and match, but there is usually a clear purpose. Twitter, for example, is interesting because it is meant to socially engage with users by having them locally tweet, retweet or favorite. Many users, though, use Twitter like a T.V. only viewing their stream to see what others are broadcasting, whether that be akin to reality T.V. or cable news.

The point is that if the entire Internet is moving down an interactive and engaging pipeline what sets Facebook apart?

Stay tuned for part two my analysis next week. I’d love to meet you on Twitter, as well.

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Opinions by Gender

Abortion is often considered to be a “women’s issue,” as women are those affected by any legal changes in abortion policies. At N.C. State, the gender divide exists, but isn’t as great as some might expect. We find that 58% of males are in favor of abortion rights, and 67% of women say the same thing, for a 9-point gender gap. However, the gender divide increases if respondents are pushed to decide between pro-life and pro-choice, with 56% of men claiming to be pro-choice, while 72% of women call themselves pro-choice, resulting in a 16-point gender gap. These results also suggest that men are more likely than women to be in favor of abortion rights, yet consider themselves to be pro-life.

On the issue of morality, male and female students at N.C. State are in agreement: 18% of males and 21% of females consider abortion to be morally acceptable; 48% of males and 47% of females believe it to be morally wrong; and 33% of males and 32% of females believe abortion is not a moral issue. Likewise, 56% of male students believe it should legal in all or most cases, while 63% of women said the same thing.  The gap of 7 points is smaller than for the labels respondents used to describe their positions.

Pew research asked the same question about legality in their survey of adults in August 2012. That survey found that 55% of women believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 51% of men agreed. With the N.C. State population consisting of people mostly aged between 18-25, perhaps the different results across surveys says more about an age gap than for a gender gap.

Party ID 

Party ID tends to be highly predictive of Americans’ opinions, and abortion is no different. Among N.C. State students that identified as Republicans, 68% said they were pro-life, while 32% said pro-choice. The same percentage of Republicans called themselves anti-abortion rights vs. pro-abortion rights.  Conversely, among those that identified as Democrats, 88% said they were pro-choice, while just 12% were pro-life. Among Independents, 73% were pro-choice and 27% were pro-life. This finding is interesting given that when students who indentify as Independent are pushed to “pick a team,” 26% leaned towards the Republican Party, 35% leaned towards the Democratic party, and 38% said they lean towards neither. Even with this roughly even split, Independent students still greatly favored the pro-choice side.

Regarding the perceived morality of abortion, 77% of Republicans believe it is morally wrong, and just 9% believe it’s morally acceptable (14% believe it’s not a moral issue). For Democrats, 47% believe abortion is not a moral issue. The remainder amongst Democrats is almost evenly split on the issue, with 24% believing abortion is morally wrong and 29% seeing it as morally acceptable. This trend applies to the question of legality too.  Here, 71% of Republicans say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, and 84% of Democrats and 65% of Independents saying the exact opposite, that abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

For comparison, we again look to the Pew. In an August 2012 survey, this issue of legality was not as polarized along party lines as it was among N.C. State students. That survey found that among the adult population, 57% of Republicans said it should be illegal in most or all cases, and 65% of Democrats and 54% of Independents said it should be legal in most or all cases.

Pew Research links:

• http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/22/the-complicated-politics-of-abortion/
• http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/young-adults-least-likely-age-group-to-know-roe-v-wade-about-abortion/

N.C. State students differ from adult population

In the study done by Pew Research in August 2012, this issue of legality of abortion was not as clear cut along party lines as it was found to be among N.C. State students.

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Knowledge of Roe is High

In January 2013, Pew Research conducted a poll in which they found that 62% of Americans know that the U.S. Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision dealt with the issue of abortion. The other 38% either said they didn’t know, believed the decision dealt with desegregation, the death penalty, or environmental protection.

Pew also found that among people younger than 30 years old, the percentage of knowledge about Roe vs. Wade dropped tremendously, with only 44% knowing what the decision dealt with. N.C. State students do not follow this trend. When asked the same question, 89% of students knew Roe vs. Wade dealt with the issue of abortion.

Effects of being pushed to take a side 

The abortion debate tends to be filled with highly charged language. The Pack Poll sought to understand the effects of various wording in questions about abortion. The survey also forced some students to choose a side on the issue by not providing a “no opinion” option.

When given a “no opinion” option, and asked if they considered themselves to be anti-abortion or in favor of abortion rights 59% answered in favor of abortion rights, 27% said they were anti-abortion, and 14% said they had no opinion.  When respondents were forced to pick a side, the percentage saying they favor abortion rights increased just four percentage points to 63%, while the percentage of anti-abortion responses jumped 10 percentage points to 37%. This difference suggests that a majority of those without a strong opinion, or who do not want to express an opinion, lean against abortion rights.

Changing the language of the question, however, produces results inconsistent with that interpretation.  Some students were instead asked if they considered themselves to be “pro-choice” or “pro-life.”  In this version of the question, 55% said they were pro-choice, 36% said they were pro-life, and 9% said they had no opinion. When the no opinion option was removed the percentage of “pro-choice” respondents jumped nine percentage points to 64%, while the percentage of students calling themselves “pro-life” remained the same.

Morally wrong, yet legal

N.C. State students were also asked if they thought abortion was a moral issue, and if they thought abortion should be legal or illegal.  Despite a majority calling themselves “pro-choice” and favoring abortion rights, the survey found that 48% of students believe abortion is morally wrong.  Conversely, just 20% believe abortion is morally acceptable, while 32% said it was not a moral issue. Nevertheless, 59% said abortion should be legal in most or all cases. To N.C. State students, morality and legality seem to be somewhat unrelated.

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Loans and employment after graduation

Post graduation prospects are looming over the heads of many N.C. State students. When asked how worried students were about finding a job after graduating, results were as might be expected of college students today. A large majority — 70% altogether — indicated some degree of concern about post-graduation employment. Specifically, 12% said they were very worried about finding a job after graduating, 31% were somewhat worried and 27% were a little worried. However, 17% of students placed themselves in the “not worried at all” category, five percentage points higher than those that said they were “very worried.” As for the rest of the students, 13% said the question did not apply to them for purposes of graduating to go on to law school, graduate school or another professional school.

The Pack Poll probed this topic by also asking other students how worried they were about getting a good paying job after graduating. The results differed from the first question, but only marginally. The percentage of worried students rose just two percentage points, from 70% to 72%. “Very worried” students increased by four percentage points (to 16%) whereas students that were not worried at all declined to 13%. While the figures changed slightly, the extra wording of finding a good paying job did not agitate the already concerned student population. One reason why this might have made little difference is that college students are already thinking about jobs that pay well when asked about their future job prospects. In other words, few students are hoping to find minimum wage jobs.

Student Loans

The survey also asked students whether they agreed or disagreed with this statement: “I am worried about how hard it might be to pay back my student loans.” Despite the national trend towards increasing dependence on student loans to attend college, 43% of N.C. State students said they did not have student loans. Yet, of the remaining 57% of students that did have loans, by a 4–1 margin they were worried about paying back the loans.

N.C. State not considered a party school

Most undergraduate Wolfpackers do not perceive N.C. State as a “party school.” When asked, “Do you consider NCSU to be a party school?” only 12% said “yes” and a glaring 88% said “no.” The University’s reputation might lie in its academia or perhaps some other aspect of college life. But to N.C. State students, it seems, being a “party school” is out of the question.

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A total of 963 undergraduate students started the survey, and 923 completed it. The response rate for starting the survey is 24% and 23% for completing it. The margin of sampling error is +/-3.1% for questions with the maximum response rate, but increases for questions in which the response rate is lower. For example, in split-ballot questions, the number of respondents answering each question is cut roughly in half, raising the margin of sampling error to about +/-4.4% for those questions. For a link to the survey questions and topline report, click here.

Note about Experimental Designs

Many of the questions on the 2013 Spring Pack Poll were administered as a “split-ballot.” In short, some students read a question worded one way, while others read a slightly different version of the same basic question. Qualitrics software enables us to randomly assign a respondent to only one version of a question, allowing us to easily compare the impact of question wording on reported opinions. Sometimes, we provided different answer options that respondents could use, such as including “no opinion.” In one case, we asked four different versions of a question about abortion, changing not only the wording, but also whether a no opinion answer option was provided. These experiments allow us to better understand how firm attitudes are, and whether “forcing” respondents to answer a question affects how we can describe public opinion about an issue.

Presidential Approval

Most notably in this semester’s survey, Presidential approval rating was greatly affected by the presence of a “no opinion” option in the answer choices. When provided with a no-opinion option, a plurality of N.C. State students (46%) disapproved of President Obama, while 41% approved, and 13% had no opinion. When students are not given the option of answering that they have “no opinion,” the majority approve of President Obama (55%) while disapproval remains largely unchanged (45%). It appears that those students who normally would not volunteer an opinion are more likely to say they approve of the president when encouraged to generate an answer. It is not clear, however, that these students have no real opinions about President Obama. Instead, their preferences might simply be weaker.

For purposes of comparison, the Fall 2012 Pack Poll completed prior to the election in November found that N.C. State students were evenly divided about the President’s approval rating (50/50%). Some five months later, President Obama’s approval rating has risen 5% to 55% among undergraduates, which is similar to the uptick national polls have been finding. Readers should note that this comparison is based on when the question did not provide respondents with a “no opinion” option.

Direction of the Country and N.C. State

Students see the university and the country headed in opposite directions. A majority of respondents (57%) say they think the country is headed in the “wrong direction.” Conversely, 85% of respondents think N.C. State is headed in the “right direction.” N.C. State students also overwhelmingly rejected the notion that N.C. State is a party school. When asked, 88% of respondents said “no.”

Scheduled Releases

This was a large survey, with over 30 questions asked about multiple topics, including gun control, immigration, social media use, and abortion. Please revisit our site in the coming days as we continue to post new analyses of our findings.

You can follow us on Twitter (@thepackpoll) and “like” us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PackPoll) to keep up with our latest stories.

The survey was administered via email on Wednesday, February 6, and was sent to a random sample of 665 tenure (TT) and non-tenure tracked (NTT) professors at NC State.

The issue at hand dates back to January 29, when Governor Pat McCrory spoke about higher education on a radio interview with Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan.  McCrory commented on the way education should be funded and what studies should be subsidized.  Of the faculty surveyed, almost all (87%) had heard about McCrory’s remarks.

One of Governor McCrory comments was, “Frankly if you want to take gender studies that’s fine, go to a private school and take it. But
I don’t want to subsidize that if that’s not going to get someone a job.” In response to this, 85% of faculty said they disagreed.  As might be expected, nearly all College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) professors in the sample disagreed with that statement (95%). Yet, faculty in STEM colleges (science, technology, engineering and math) also overwhelmingly disagreed with McCrory’s statement (82%).

The faculty was also asked to agree or disagree with McCrory’s statement on how higher education should be funded.  In the interview, McCrory said, “the basic formula how education is given out to our universities and community colleges” should be changed so that “it’s not based upon how many butts in seats, but how many of those butts can get jobs.” Faculty response to this was consistent with the previous question, with 82% disagreeing with it.  Similarly, 93% of CHASS professors, 82% of STEM professors and 60% of education and management professors disagreed with this statement.

Priority of education

Faculty members were also given four statements on what universities should provide to its students, and were asked to rank their priorities.  Faculty at NC State stated that the number one priority should be to provide its students with a broad-based education that promotes intellectual growth, followed by providing students with skills and knowledge that will be of general value in the working world.  The third ranked priority was to provide training for a specific career or profession, and their least important priority was to help students improve their future earning potential.

There was some variation across colleges.  Of the liberal arts, CHASS, professors, 76% rated the promotion of intellectual growth as the number one priority, while that percentage dropped to 57% among STEM professors and 55% among Management and Education professors.