What Your College Major Says About Your Politics

**Michael Smerconish** (0:00)
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**SPEAKER_3** (1:04)
Ditch the clowns on the left and the jokers on the right and join Michael Smerconish right here in the middle.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:15)
I saw a really interesting piece at Axios that talked about fears over AI and the impact that it's having on students selecting a college major. Quote, students and their parents are searching for college-proof college majors for an AI-powered world. AI is changing the skills employers expect from entry-level workers while colleges are rethinking how to prepare students for the transition.
Rumors of the death of jobs may be greatly exaggerated, but college students and graduates are still worried about what comes next. And then I was thinking about Dr. Ryan Burge because I read his stuff on Substack. I recommend that you read his stuff on Substack. He's a professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at WashU. That would be Washington University in St. Louis. And he writes about religion and religiosity, and that which he wrote and published that caught my eye pertained to college majors. And not only what you can tell about a person in terms of their major, about their religion or religious practices or lack thereof, but also their ideology. This is Dr. Ryan Burge. Thank you so much for coming back to the program.

**Ryan Burge** (2:31)
That was a pleasure, Michael.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:33)
So in a post of yours that was titled, Finance Majors Go to Church, English Majors Don't, there was a particular graph that was accompanying your work. I'm looking at it for the benefit of those who will watch on YouTube, will post it. But at the top, it said, Religious Disaffiliation by College Major.
Give me the big picture before you go into the weeds. What were you seeking to do here?

**Ryan Burge** (2:59)
Well, I get asked questions all the time about what impact does education have on religiosity? And I can give a blanket answer with a blanket survey about, interestingly enough, Michael, people who have graduate degrees are actually more likely to go to church this weekend than people who finished in high school.
Education is actually positively related to religious attendance. It's actually not related at all.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:19)
Slow down. I got to think about that.

**Ryan Burge** (3:21)
Say it again. Those who went to grad school are more likely to go to church this Sunday than people who finished at high school by about three percentage points. Huh.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:33)
What do you make of that?

**Ryan Burge** (3:35)
Oh, I think it's...
We think about religion. I think the average person thinks about religion in the wrong way, which to think about a belief, belief, belief. Actually, educated people are less likely to have a certain belief in God, which kind of tracks of what we know. The more you know, the less certain you are about the world. But also, educated people are more social. They have more social connections. They're more engaged in their community. They're more likely to vote, participate in politics, and they're just more likely to be out there in the world. So it all kind of makes sense that education... Now, the problem is we don't know whether educated people are more social or social people are more educated. That's the causal error. We can't really sort out that well.

**Michael Smerconish** (4:09)
Hmm. In other words, it's a perhaps mingling opportunity for those who are educated.
We don't even know if they're buying the program. Maybe it's just for them an outlet, a social outlet of sorts.

**Ryan Burge** (4:23)
Yeah. I think we have to think about religion as a vertical and a horizontal, right? There's certainly a vertical aspect, a belief aspect, a salvific aspect of religion, but there's also a horizontal aspect. You go to hang out with your friends, your families there, your communities there. They lift you up in times of need. They help you when you need help and you help them when they need help. I mean, that's what makes the world worth living for lots of people. Social connection is really important.