Polls have a way of shifting rapidly. People put down what they think they're supposed to put down. See how fast support for gay rights tilted as more people came out. Most people weren't really committed to homophobia, but they thought they were expected to seem to believe certain things.

There's a name for the phenomenon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralistic_ignorance

you think universities focusing on gender are affected by this?

I'm not sure what this means. Universities are big, sprawling things. Even universities known for one thing have a wide range of majors.