Universities and colleges have great freedom to design their internal organization in a way that best suits each institution's conditions and needs. They are also responsible for employment. The institutions are also largely responsible for the educational offerings they offer.
The current system largely stems from the so-called “autonomy reform” that was implemented in 2010. According to the government at the time, the reform entailed “far-reaching deregulation in terms of organization, teacher employment and education. In addition to what applies to the board and rector, it is proposed that a higher education institution itself should be allowed to determine its internal organization.” The idea was to move away from excessively detailed governance.
In addition to organizational freedom, individual researchers also have freedoms. Freedom of research is protected by the Swedish Constitution, and further provisions are found in the Higher Education Act.
The general principles for research shall be that:
1. research problems may be freely chosen,
2. research methods are allowed to develop freely and
3. research results may be freely published
Higher education does not have the same protection, but in the spring the government sent out a proposal for a legislative amendment that would also strengthen the freedom of education in law if implemented.
The role of academia in society entails a great social responsibility and there are great expectations of what universities and colleges should contribute to society. At the same time, academia is an important force for knowledge development and democracy, one that is disadvantaged by too strong political influence.
In order for academia to be able to take its responsibility, SFS believes that academic freedom is a fundamental prerequisite. Thus, it is important from a long-term perspective that neither politics nor the market encroach on academic freedom.