Support to Swedish universities in defence of institutional autonomy
18.05.2023
In a LERU advice paper from December 2010 on “Academic freedom as a fundamental right” (as updated in 2023 *), measures were presented for European and national policymakers and legislators on how to effectively protect, facilitate, strengthen and optimise academic freedom. One assumption was that academic freedom makes it possible for universities to serve the common good of society through the search for and dissemination of knowledge and understanding. Institutional autonomy for the academy was identified as one of three key aspects of academic freedom.
It is therefore with grave concern that we recently have learnt that our Swedish member, Lund University, as well as other universities in Sweden, currently are facing a decrease in institutional autonomy. The Swedish government has recently appointed new university boards, and on short notice advertised a shortened mandate period from three years to 17 months, with reference to the security policy situation and the importance of such competence being included in the university boards.
The Academic Freedom Index measures academic freedom in Sweden as high. However, research and claims from the sector show that conditions for academic freedom are moderate to weak (Karran et al 2017 **, Maassen et al 2023 ***). Notably, the level of institutional autonomy is characterised as moderate and is low on legal aspects. This creates uncertainty on what the next step of the Swedish government will be.
LERU therefore would like to express support for Lund University, other Swedish universities, and the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions in defending academic freedom and in particular institutional autonomy. Conditions for academic freedom should be strengthened instead of implying politically motivated changes to university boards' competencies.
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* https://www.leru.org/publicati...;
https://www.leru.org/publicati...
** Peter Maassen, Dennis Martinsen, Mari Elken, Jens Jungblut and Elisabeth Lackner (2023) State of play of academic freedom in the EU Member States. Overview of de facto trends and developments. European Parliamentary Research Service Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) PE 740.231 – March 2023 EPRS_STU(2023)740231_EN.pdf (europa.eu)
*** Terence Karran, Klaus Beiter & Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua (2017) Measuring academic freedom in Europe: a criterion referenced approach, Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 1:2, 209-239, DOI: Full article: Measuring academic freedom in Europe: a criterion referenced approach (tandfonline.com)
