Autonomy in Social Science Research

Abstract

Changes in the freedoms of individual academics and universities have been gathering apace across the western world since World War II (e.g., Altbach, 2001; Karmel, 2003, p. 2). Such changes have compelled the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to alert the world community to the link between freedoms experienced in the university sector and those in wider democratic systems. In 1998, UNESCO held a World Conference on Higher Education with a specific focus on academic freedom and university autonomy. An international charter resulted, detailing mutual rights, obligations and monitoring mechanisms. The International Association of Universities (IAU), the group responsible for convening the UNESCO debate, emphasised that academic freedom and university autonomy were essential to be able to transmit and advance knowledge:For Universities to serve a world society requires that Academic Freedom and University Autonomy form the bedrock to a new Social Contract – a contract to uphold values common to Humanity and to meet the expectations of a world where frontiers are rapidly dissolving. (cited in Ginkel, 2002, p. 347)

Citation

Kayrooz, C., Åkerlind, G.S. and Tight, M. (2007), "Autonomy in Social Science Research", Kayrooz, C., Åkerlind, G.S. and Tight, M. (Ed.) Autonomy in Social Science Research (International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Vol. 4), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3628(06)04001-9