Is academic freedom at risk from internationalisation? Results from a 2020 survey of UK social scientists

Figures & data

Table 1. Do you think Academic Freedom is under threat in UK universities?⁹⁴

	Yes	No	Don't know
All academics	67%	18%	15%
Politics & IR	71%	19%	9%
Sociology & Anthropology	68%	19%	13%
Humanities	67%	14%	19%
Economics, Business and Law	70%	17%	13%

Table 2. Is academic freedom discussed in your University? (by category of academics).⁹⁵

	Yes, we talk about it often	We talk about it, but not very often	No, we don't talk about it
All academics	14%	59%	27%
Politics & IR	18%	60%	22%
Sociology & Anthropology	13%	62%	25%
Humanities	14%	51%	35%
Economics, Business and Law	9%	63%	28%
Russell Group respondents	15%	62%	23%
Non-Russell Group respondents	11%	58%	31%

Table 3. Is academic freedom discussed in your University? (by frequency of discussion).

	Russell Group respondents	Non-Russell Group respondents
Yes, we talk about it often	62%	38%
We talk about it, but not very often	57%	43%
No, we don’t talk about it	47%	53%

Table 4. Are there any policy guidelines or procedures in your department regarding academic freedom in higher education?⁹⁶

	Yes	No	Don't know
All academics	15%	20%	65%
Politics & IR	15%	24%	61%
Sociology & Anthropology	11%	21%	68%
Humanities	12%	19%	69%
Economics, Business and Law	17%	20%	63%

Table 5. Perception of specific risks to academic freedom.⁹⁷

	Freedom to select teaching content	Freedom to conduct research without interference	Institutional censorship	Freedom of expression on campuses
All academics	42%	39%	30%	57%
Politics & IR	56%	50%	39%	66%
Sociology & Anthropology	45%	47%	35%	64%
Humanities	49%	43%	35%	65%
Economics, Business and Law	46%	41%	33%	73%

Table 6. Do you think the autonomy of your institution has been eroded over the past few years?⁹⁸

	Significantly	Somewhat	No
All academics	20%	55%	25%
Politics & IR	21%	54%	25%
Sociology & Anthropology	18%	59%	23%
Humanities	18%	60%	22%
Economics, Business and Law	17%	52%	31%

Table 7. Have you ever self-censored when teaching students from autocratic states in the UK?⁹⁹

	Yes	No	Don’t know / prefer not to answer
All academics	20%	73%	7%
Scholars specialising in European states	33%	62%	5%
Scholars specialising in African states	39%	58%	3%
Scholars specialising in China	41%	55%	4%

Table 8. Do you consider freedom to select teaching content to be currently at risk in UK universities?¹⁰⁰

	Yes	No
All academics	42%	58%
Scholars specialising in European states	51%	49%
Scholars specialising in African states	52%	48%
Scholars specialising in China	39%	61%

Table 9. Have you ever self-censored when reporting fieldwork findings?¹⁰¹

	Yes	No	Don’t know / prefer not to answer
All academics	14%	75%	11%
Scholars specialising in European states	19%	68%	13%
Scholars specialising in African states	26%	60%	14%
Scholars specialising in China	22%	64%	14%

Table 10. Should UK Government introduce a new law to protect academic freedom in international partnerships?

Yes	No	Maybe
55%	17%	28%

Table 11. Do you favour the adoption of such a code of conduct within your institution?

Yes	No	Maybe	Don’t know
61%	2%	29%	8%