A first-of-its-kind study has revealed that academia in Canada, the United States, and the UK are suppressing and punishing conservative scholars and students for their ideas and speech, which is increasingly encroaching on their academic freedom. The report (pdf) was conducted by the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology (CSPI), which said its analysis, supported by large-scale survey data, is able to provide scientific evidences to “campus illiberalism.” “A significant portion of academics discriminate against conservatives in hiring, promotion, grants, and publications,” wrote Eric Kaufmann, professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, and author of the CSPI report. Kaufmann said this study is unique because its analysis reveals the nature and extent of the punishment and political discrimination against conservative academics “from the perspectives of both perpetrators and victims.” The report noted that while progressive critics have brushed off high profile cases of discrimination and mob …