Academic Freedom as a Professional, Constitutional, and Human Right

Academic freedom persists as a commonly invoked foundational principle in US higher education. In practice, ambiguity, debate, and uncertainty encompass academic freedom, both as a professional standard and as a constitutional First Amendment concept. Debates over constitutional academic freedom extend to whether it exists as a legitimate legal doctrine at all, either as an individual right faculty can claim or one shared with or exclusive to higher education institutions. Likewise, academic freedom as a professional norm faces increasing strain. Tenure, devised as the principal employment arrangement to uphold academic freedom by providing financial security to faculty, is increasingly only available to a declining percentage of professors. This chapter examines definitions and conceptions of academic freedom as a professional norm in higher education and as a constitutional concept. The chapter also addresses related issues, such as connections between tenure or collective bargaining and academic freedom. The authors consider as well interpretations of academic freedom in other countries and from an international perspective. Suggestions for future research on academic freedom are also offered in the chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, University of Kentucky College of Education, Lexington, KY, USA Neal H. Hutchens
2. School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education, University of Florida College of Education, Gainesville, FL, USA Frank Fernandez

1. Neal H. Hutchens

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1. Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Laura W. Perna

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1. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Laura W. Perna

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Hutchens, N.H., Fernandez, F. (2023). Academic Freedom as a Professional, Constitutional, and Human Right. In: Perna, L.W. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94844-3_2-1

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• DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94844-3_2-1
• Received : 07 July 2022
• Accepted : 08 July 2022
• Published : 17 November 2022
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