Question: My internal model of academia is that (1) as a group we are one of the most tolerant of biological and philosophical differences (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, and religion) and (2) that we are likely to take extreme views on issues related to our research. I have no evidence for either of these and they seem potentially at odds in that it seems strange that people would be so passionate about their research and be blase about their religion (or any other philosophy). Is there any work that characterizes the level of tolerance of academics on various issues?

Answer: 
There is [a recent study](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2063742) which generated quite a bit of noise and seems to indicate that racial and gender biases do indeed exist in academia (at least in the U.S.). The researchers sent e-mails to professors pretending to be a prospective graduate student, and response rates varied widely depending on the ethnic- and gender- markers in the purported student's name.
As a matter of fact, academics tend to be quite left-leaning, especially in fields like sociology. ([Here](http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2006/07/23/why-do-sociologists-lean-left-really-left/ "Here's")'s an article about this, with links to multiple studies.) Sadly, they're not abnormally likely to be tolerant of conservative viewpoints.