Although definitions and concepts vary in detail, the notion of Academic Freedom has been an important element in higher education governance for a considerable time. There are, however, increasing concerns that academic freedom is being eroded, with a number of cases reported in the press in recent years which appear to affect this cherished right of academic staff.
The Education Reform Act 1988 included a legal definition of academic freedom, by placing a duty on higher education institutions to ensure that academic staff have “freedom within the law to question and test received wisdom, and to put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions without placing themselves in jeopardy of losing their jobs or the privileges they may have”.
Concerns about this issue have prompted the University and College Union to publish a Statement on Academic Freedom in 2009.
A major work on academic freedom No University is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom by Cary Nelson (2010), is based on the premise that the protection of academic freedom is related to preserving academic participation in institutional governance, and security of tenure for academics. A feature on academic freedom, including the state of affairs in Europe and America, was published in the Times Higher Education in February 2010 and there is also an article by Professor Nigel Thrift on institutional autonomy and public support in March 2010.
One of the findings of a research project University Autonomy in Europe published by the European University Association in 2011, is that English universities enjoy the greatest freedom from state intervention in Europe.