This chapter explores various explanations for this liberal shift in the academy. We begin by reviewing six common explanations: dislocation between cultural and economic capital, public sector employment, genetics, intellectual activity, the opening of higher education in the postwar era, and self-selection. Next, we introduce a functionalist approach that focuses on the long-term consequences of an institution with a high degree of organizational autonomy whose purpose is to pursue general truths about nature and society that can be grounded in reason.