It can refer to several types of scholastic prejudice, e.g., logocentrism, phonocentrism,[1] ethnocentrism or the belief that some sciences and disciplines rank higher than others.
[8] An early audit study published in 1986 suggested that entrance into an American clinical psychology graduate program was negatively affected by whether the applicant was a fundamentalist Christian.
[9] One study examined the comments made by members of an American medical school admission committee towards 21 Christian applicants.
Respondents claimed that bias was directed at individuals because of their sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, sex, religion and class.
The types of bias witnessed involved stereotyping, offensive humour, social isolation, slurs and insults.
The paper's authors argued this resulted in bias, as the ideology of scientists within the field influenced both the acceptance of certain theories and the rejection of others; criminologists of this period came to regard criminology as being about criticising the social structure of society and those who supported the status quo.
[33][34] Christine Reyna argues that ideological bias can affect how scales are constructed and interpreted in multiple ways.
[37] Some scholars, such as J. F. Zipp, have said that studies on the political orientations of professors are faulty, having focused on unrepresentative institutions and fields; when taken as a whole, they say that academia has become more moderate over time.
[40] Brent D. Slife and Jeffrey S. Reber assert that an implicit bias against theism limits possible insights in the field of psychology.
[41] The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative group, argues that course curriculums betray a progressive bias.
[46] Phillip Gray argues that ideological bias in political science risks creating "blind spots", whereby certain ideas and assumptions are just accepted as normal and not challenged.
Toje also argues that the field of social science is filled with biased terminology that a priori discredits certain perspectives while lending credence to others.