Sweden launches inquiry to safeguard academic freedom at universities
The government has appointed an inquiry to look into whether legislative changes are needed to strengthen academic freedom – a topic which has grabbed headlines after the Trump government's attempts to crack down on diversity and inclusion initiatives at universities.
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"Sweden must stand up for academic freedom when other countries dismantle it," said Education Minister Johan Pehrson in a statement.
Since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as US President, the situation for academics in the US has worsened.
The White House has made moves to control research funding and demanded that universities eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, as well as changing their processes of hiring and admissions.
Trump has even frozen billions of dollars in federal funds to Harvard after the university refused to bow to White House demands.
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Even Swedish universities, most of which are state-run, have raised concern about a deteriorating situation in terms of academic freedom at home. Four out of ten employees report having been subjected to threats or harassment, according to a statement from Uppsala University.
"We can see how researchers in the US, one of the world's leading research nations, are now looking to leave the universities. We think that researchers should be free, curious, and a little bit irritating," Pehrson told a press conference on Thursday. "That's how we get world-class research which builds a Sweden we can believe in."
Back in 2023, the government received criticism from academics responsible for teacher training courses for "micromanaging" courses and not giving researchers enough academic freedom when it proposed a new curriculum.
"It's hard to see this as anything more than an extremely hard attack on Swedish schools, teachers and teacher training – on primarily ideological grounds with no strong empirical support," read an article in SvD from two leading academics within teaching.
"I'm listening closely to that discussion," Pehrson said on Thursday.
The inquiry will be led by Anna-Sara Lind, professor of public law at Uppsala University, and has until June 30th 2026 to report.
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