Professors Find God in Groves of Academe

Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of professors — even at elite schools — are religious believers, a new study shows.

Accounting professors are the most religious among the top 20 bachelor's degree-granting disciplines, with 63% saying they believe in God. Overall, American professors are less religious than the general public, but a majority of academics do believe in God, the survey of about 1,500 professors found. A professor at Harvard University, Neil Gross, and a professor at George Mason University, Solon Simmons, conducted the survey.

A professor of religion at Barnard College, Randall Balmer, said the study helps to refute the notion that academics are almost universally atheist or agnostic. A research scholar at New York University's Center for Religion and Media, Jeff Sharlet, likewise said the idea that the ivory tower is detached from the main currents of religious life is as sound as believing that "The Beverly Hillbillies" is a fair representation of rural poverty. About accountants being so religious, Mr. Sharlet quipped, "The god is in the details."

The new research shows that mechanical engineers are those whom one is least likely to be seated next to at a church, mosque, or synagogue. Nearly 71% attended religious services once or twice a year or less. Psychology, communications, marketing, biology, and sociology professors follow, although the authors caution that some differences might reflect differing institutional locations of various disciplinary fields.

Mr. Balmer said he was surprised that biologists were among the disciplines that were most atheist and agnostic. Between 20% and 30% of professors overall termed themselves atheists or agnostics.

The survey also showed that faculty members at elite institutions are more secular than their counterparts at community colleges. Mr. Balmer said the apparently smaller number of religiously identified professors at elite institutions could possibly be explained by the abundance of religiously affiliated colleges throughout the country, many of which require some sort of religious affirmation.

Mr. Gross said the study shows that professors who are more oriented toward research tend to be less religious. "At elite doctoral-granting universities, nearly all professors are oriented first and foremost toward research," he said via e-mail. He said also the study showed that professors whose parents completed college tend to be somewhat less religious.

Mr. Gross said the only consistent disciplinary predictor of being less religious was being a social scientist. Mr. Gross said some sociologists have hypothesized that social scientists are less religious than other professors because they are more inclined to think of religion as a social phenomenon to be explained. Others believe, he said, that it is because social scientists want to establish themselves as "scientists" and therefore distance themselves from anything appearing unscientific.

In general, professors in applied fields tend to be more religious and answer most like members of the general population in terms of their social and political attitudes and characteristics, he said.

After accounting professors, those most likely to profess belief in God are professors of elementary education, finance, marketing, art, and criminal justice.

Mr. Gross found that the closer to the research core of the university one gets, the less religious professors become, although, again, the majority still are religious believers. Mr. Sharlet said liberal arts professors are more likely than many others to be immersed in "Enlightenment assumptions."

Regarding researchers, Mr. Sharlet said a person would want his or her neurologist, for example, to be obsessed with scientific medical data. He said that the engagement of a neurologist or a political science professor to their work at a top college could tend to crowd out other concerns, such as spiritual ones.

Nevertheless, many elite institutions once originally served quasi-religious purposes such as training and educating clergy. But Mr. Balmer, who has a forthcoming book on how faith has shaped the presidency starting with President Kennedy, said places such as Harvard are never going to be the "nurseries of piety" that they were in the 17th century. At the same time, he said, there is a growing recognition that religion needs to be taken seriously as a cultural force as well as a source of motivation for human activity.