Apropos my comments last evening about the online presence of candidates for academic jobs, Brian Lieter, Steve Bainbridge, and Chris Bertram weigh in on the subject. None are especially encouraging for those whose views are outside the mainstream in academic circles. Bainbridge puts it thusly:
I’d like to tell prospective job candidates not to worry – that life is too short to go around pulling your punches. But I can’t. There is a strong bias against conservatives and libertarians in the law school hiring process (most recently discussed here). A right-leaning blog may well affect a candidate’s hiring chances, at least at the margins.
I lack the self-restraint to let that knowledge rein me in very often, but it’s something worth keeping in mind for the aspiring academic. It’s not as if getting such a job is particularly easy anyway.
