Academic freedom

Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference.^[1] It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism.^[1]

Academic freedom is often premised on the conviction that freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts (including those that are inconvenient to external political groups or to authorities) without the fear of being repressed, losing their job or being imprisoned. While the core of academic freedom covers scholars acting in an academic capacity – as teachers or researchers expressing strictly scholarly viewpoints —, an expansive interpretation extends these occupational safeguards to scholars' speech on matters outside their professional expertise.^[2]^[3]

Academic tenure protects academic freedom by ensuring that teachers can be fired only for causes such as gross professional incompetence or behavior that evokes condemnation from the academic community itself.^[4]

Historically, academic freedom emerged tentatively, as academics in medieval and early modern Europe could face repression for acting in ways considered objectionable by religious authorities or by governments.^[1] Scholars tend to link the institutionalization of academic freedom to the rise of the modern research university and the Humboldtian model of higher education from the 19th century.^[1] By one estimate, academic freedom has substantially increased worldwide since the 1960s. Academic freedom is more likely in liberal democratic states, while it is more heavily constrained in authoritarian states, illiberal states, and states embroiled in military conflict.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lerch, Julia C.; Frank, David John; Schofer, Evan (2024). "The Social Foundations of Academic Freedom: Heterogeneous Institutions in World Society, 1960 to 2022". American Sociological Review. 89: 88–125. doi:10.1177/00031224231214000. ISSN 0003-1224.
^ Andreescu, Liviu (2009). "Individual academic freedom and aprofessional acts". Educational Theory. 59 (5): 559–578. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2009.00338.x.
^ Van Alstyne, William (1975). The Specific Theory of Academic Freedom and the General Issue of Civil Liberty. In The Concept of Academic Freedom, ed. Edmund Pincoffs. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975.
^ 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, American Association of University Professors and of the Association of American Colleges, 10 July 2006, p. 4.

[Lerch-2024-1] Lerch, Julia C.; Frank, David John; Schofer, Evan (2024). "The Social Foundations of Academic Freedom: Heterogeneous Institutions in World Society, 1960 to 2022". American Sociological Review. 89: 88–125. doi:10.1177/00031224231214000. ISSN 0003-1224.

[2] Andreescu, Liviu (2009). "Individual academic freedom and aprofessional acts". Educational Theory. 59 (5): 559–578. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2009.00338.x.

[3] Van Alstyne, William (1975). The Specific Theory of Academic Freedom and the General Issue of Civil Liberty. In The Concept of Academic Freedom, ed. Edmund Pincoffs. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975.

[American_Association_of_University_Professors_and_of_the_Association_of_American_Colleges-2006-4] 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, American Association of University Professors and of the Association of American Colleges, 10 July 2006, p. 4.

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