Why are educated voters less likely to support Trump than non-educated?

[Tekken_Guy]

This is something that strikes me. I've never understood the relationship between level of education and support for Trump.

[This is Eharding, guys]

This is similar to my question here
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=268527.0

[justfollowingtheelections]

This is something that strikes me. I've never understood the relationship between level of education and support for Trump.

Really?  No one with a half brain would vote for a clown like Trump.

[Bismarck]

Trump's rhetoric and way of speaking targeted blue collar whites and they gravitated to him in response. Once this happened the media started talking ad naseum about how Trump was the candidate of working class whites without degrees. This made many voters with college degrees, who already weren't as attracted to Trump initially because of his focus on the concerns of blue collar Americans, turn away from him because they didn't feel part of the group identity that the media (and Trump) made the Trump campaign out to be. In short, if you're bombarded every day with news telling you that to support Trump means you're a racist hick, you're going to turn away from that unless you feel that other concerns take precedence.

[PragmaticPopulist]

No one really knows for sure. I think it's a combination of a lot of things, but from what I've heard, the most significant reason is that he ran on an "anti-elite" platform, and what he seems to define as an elite is a well-educated professional. When you scapegoat the well-educated, you aren't going to get their votes.

[Smash255]

This is something that strikes me. I've never understood the relationship between level of education and support for Trump.

Because they see his moronic tweets and hear him speak....

[Technocracy Timmy]

Speaking as somebody who lives in a Romney-Clinton county and district with Romney-Clinton voters in his social circle, here's what I've noticed about them:

1. They didn't like Trump because he was too populist and not conservative enough.
2. They thought he was too uncultured and stupid. Or just because they thought he was an ass (women especially for this reason).
3. They thought he'd damage the Republican Party and conservative movement if he became the face of it and there's no question that as President he would become the face of the Party and movement. (Ben Shapiro's argument)

[darklordoftech]

1. Xenophobia doesn't tend to resonate with educated people.
2. Protective tariffs were discredited long ago, and educated voters know that.
3. "Make America Great Again" doesn't resonate with educated people.

[Technocracy Timmy]

1. Xenophobia doesn't tend to resonate with educated people.

In my honest experience, educated people are usually just smart enough to keep their own personal biases and prejudices to themselves. Upscale college educated places can have nasty histories of racism. My hometown has that kind of ugly past.

I suppose a college degree and more education can make people slightly less racist and biased, but it's overstated.

[Gustaf]

Voting for Trump is dumb and on average educated people are less dumb. This really isn't something that should require a college degree to grasp.

And before some Trumpist gets too triggered, this is of course only true on average - plenty of educated people are still dumb and hence voted for Trump and vice versa.

[darklordoftech]

1. Xenophobia doesn't tend to resonate with educated people.

In my honest experience, educated people are usually just smart enough to keep their own personal biases and prejudices to themselves. Upscale college educated places can have nasty histories of racism. My hometown has that kind of ugly past.

I suppose a college degree and more education can make people slightly less racist and biased, but it's overstated.

What I meant is that doctors and lawyers are less likely to be worried about Mexicans taking their jobs than McDonalds workers are.

[SoLongAtlas]

1. Xenophobia doesn't tend to resonate with educated people.
2. Protective tariffs were discredited long ago, and educated voters know that.
3. "Make America Great Again" doesn't resonate with educated people.

This. Plus this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpdt7omPoa0

[SingingAnalyst]

Lots of good reasons mentioned in this thread I think. The correlation, state-by-state (weighing each state equally and counting DC as a state) between the percentage of residents 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher, and the percentage of voters who voted Trump, is a jaw-dropping -0.85.

[nclib]

Trump's personal behavior (bragging about sexually assaulting women, condoning violence from his supporters, refusing to condemn from KKK, etc.) alienated him more so from well-educated voters than from less educated voters.

Lots of good reasons mentioned in this thread I think. The correlation, state-by-state (weighing each state equally and counting DC as a state) between the percentage of residents 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher, and the percentage of voters who voted Trump, is a jaw-dropping -0.85.

Not surprising in general, but amazing how strong the correlation is. What were the biggest outliers? (I'd guess Nevada would be more Democratic than expected)

[Mr. Smith]

The less educated are gonna be more desperate to take a con-man at his word, the more educated are gonna be more insulated from the risks of saying no to said con-man.

Not like Trump hid it, if anything his shtick was of the "at least I admit it." kind.

[RINO Tom]

Voting for Trump is dumb and on average educated people are less dumb. This really isn't something that should require a college degree to grasp.

And before some Trumpist gets too triggered, this is of course only true on average - plenty of educated people are still dumb and hence voted for Trump and vice versa.

It's not like there were any smart Trump voters or dumb Clinton voters, LOL.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

Voters with college degrees tend to be more concentrated in Democratic fields. Fields such as Education, Medicine, Journalism, Law, social sciences and Tech often lean left. While many fields that do not have as much of a requirement for university education such as mining, oil/natural gas,construction, and agriculture tend to lean right. Trump also made major inroads into the manufacturing sector which also tends to have less of a requirement for a university degree. 

This is a good guide to how the various fields lean http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-show-the-political-bias-of-each-profession-2014-11

[DC Al Fine]

Voters with college degrees tend to be more concentrated in Democratic fields. Fields such as Education, Medicine, Journalism, Law, social sciences and Tech often lean left. While many fields that do not have as much of a requirement for university education such as mining, oil/natural gas,construction, and agriculture tend to lean right. Trump also made major inroads into the manufacturing sector which also tends to have less of a requirement for a university degree. 

Paul Wells wrote about this in "Right Side Up", is book about Stephen Harper's rise to power.

Much larger swathes of the educated have economic incentives aligned with larger government (e.g. workers in not for profits, education and healthcare) compared to the past. Meanwhile many less educated workers have had their incentives line up with the economic right in ways they wouldn't have in the 1950's (e.g. workers in mining, oil and gas etc). This has diluted the economic left (since fairly well off, educated folks aren't going to vote for radical change even if they aren't conservative), and forced the right to "downscale" their coalition.

His argument is slightly dated as it was written before the recent upswing in right wing populism, but it still explains part of the appeal of Trump and shifting GOP/Dem coalitions.

[darklordoftech]

Much larger swathes of the educated have economic incentives aligned with larger government (e.g. workers in not for profits, education and healthcare) compared to the past. Meanwhile many less educated workers have had their incentives line up with the economic right in ways they wouldn't have in the 1950's (e.g. workers in mining, oil and gas etc). This has diluted the economic left (since fairly well off, educated folks aren't going to vote for radical change even if they aren't conservative), and forced the right to "downscale" their coalition.

What do you by "downscale"?

Anyway, Democrats tend to appeal to people with a "nerd" mentality by focusing on statistics and education while Republicans tend to appeal to people with a "jock" mentality. Trump went off the deep end with the "jock" mentality.

[Mr. Morden]

Voters with college degrees tend to be more concentrated in Democratic fields. Fields such as Education, Medicine, Journalism, Law, social sciences and Tech often lean left. While many fields that do not have as much of a requirement for university education such as mining, oil/natural gas,construction, and agriculture tend to lean right. Trump also made major inroads into the manufacturing sector which also tends to have less of a requirement for a university degree. 

This is a good guide to how the various fields lean http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-show-the-political-bias-of-each-profession-2014-11

Yes, but in 2012 Obama won voters with a college degree by about the same margin as he won voters without a college degree.  In 2016, however, there was a pretty significant gap.  Also, in the primaries, Trump won GOP primary voters without a college degree bigly.

[DC Al Fine]

Much larger swathes of the educated have economic incentives aligned with larger government (e.g. workers in not for profits, education and healthcare) compared to the past. Meanwhile many less educated workers have had their incentives line up with the economic right in ways they wouldn't have in the 1950's (e.g. workers in mining, oil and gas etc). This has diluted the economic left (since fairly well off, educated folks aren't going to vote for radical change even if they aren't conservative), and forced the right to "downscale" their coalition.

What do you by "downscale"?

Attempt to appeal to less educated and/or lower income voters.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I thought that education was mandatory in the US. Presumably there aren't many voters who have no schooling...

(Though the idea that formal education is synonymous with education in and of itself is not at all reflective of a biased, prejudiced, and dare I say, uneducated mind, obviously.)

[darklordoftech]

I thought that education was mandatory in the US. Presumably there aren't many voters who have no schooling...

(Though the idea that formal education is synonymous with education in and of itself is not at all reflective of a biased, prejudiced, and dare I say, uneducated mind, obviously.)

Usually, when people say that someone is "uneducated", they mean someone who goes to school just so that they can get a job and not to expand their knowledge and when people say that someone is "educated" they mean someone who reads a lot of books, does a lot research, engages in scientific, political, and economic discussion, etc.

[Tancred]

Trump talked a lot about issues that are important to blue-collar workers. Trade agreements hurt workers in traditional blue-collar sectors like manufacturing more than in white-collar industries. Immigration from countries such as Mexico is more of an economic issue for people in the blue-collar workforce.

Trump actually spoke to the needs and issues of this demographic and they responded with their support.
 

[SingingAnalyst]

I thought that education was mandatory in the US. Presumably there aren't many voters who have no schooling...

(Though the idea that formal education is synonymous with education in and of itself is not at all reflective of a biased, prejudiced, and dare I say, uneducated mind, obviously.)

Usually, when people say that someone is "uneducated", they mean someone who goes to school just so that they can get a job and not to expand their knowledge and when people say that someone is "educated" they mean someone who reads a lot of books, does a lot research, engages in scientific, political, and economic discussion, etc.

I think that is a good point. I don't know of any surveys that distinguish between "trade school" graduates, those who obtain a degree simply because it is needed for their job, and those genuinely interested in furthering their liberal education-- in terms of voting behavior, for instance.