New research published this week found that 72% of conservatives in academia are worried about losing their jobs because of their views being taken out of context.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression study also showed that 52% of professors overall share the same fear.
In addition, 56% of moderate academics and 40% of liberal ones expressed concern over sharing their opinions.
"An investigation, or the mere threat of one, can create or strengthen existing social pressure to avoid certain topics, questions, or viewpoints, stifling classroom discussions of complex and important topics," the report read.
According to FIRE researchers Nathan Honeycutt, Sean Stevens, and Eric Kaufmann, the state of academic freedom is considerably worse than it was during former Sen. Joseph McCarthy's Second Red Scare of the 1950s.
"I've been defending free speech on campus for 22 years now, and it was clear that things have been getting much worse over the past couple [of] years," FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff told the New York Post. "But looking at these numbers, it's even worse than I thought."
Lukianoff continued: "We already know that hundreds of professors have been targets of cancel culture, but we also know that there are closed-door hearings and other ways to pressure professors into conformity that are done entirely in secret.
"This destroys lives and harms the integrity of academic research," added Lukianoff.
The study, which chronicled the responses of 1,500 U.S. university faculty members, was conducted through a multi-step interview process from July 6-Aug. 31 of last year.
FIRE's study comes as universities have become increasingly polarized, due to trends in academia and student mobilization by political strategists, the Daily Mail noted.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.