Much has been made of the Free Speech Act gaining Royal Assent. Meanwhile, institutions such as King’s College London (KCL) and organisations such as HEPI and WonkHE have been asking the same questions of students: what is their opinion on freedom of speech in universities, and do they really feel less empowered to speak their mind in the higher education environment? Here at the University of Bath, we have developed training which we hope will give students the confidence to have difficult discussions, and to encourage conflict with civility.
The themes in current research appear to show that the majority of students do not feel that freedom of speech is being hindered in higher education. However, the 2022 research from KCL reveals a growing minority of students feel their right to express controversial views is ‘very or fairly threatened’ – 34 per cent of students answered this way in 2022, in comparison with 23 per cent in 2019. This is a significant rise. When broken down by political viewpoint, 50 per cent of students felt those with traditionally Conservative views were reluctant to express them in the higher education environment. Findings from a 2022 HEPI report could offer some explanations for this – including a rising proportion of students proposing the banning of certain groups from campus, and 86 per cent supporting the NUS’s No Platform Policy.
A 2023 survey by WonkHE suggests a bigger issue has arisen – students do not feel confident to express their views within the academic environment in general.
