Swedish academics fear political meddling and funding issues

‘Wokeism’ and ‘cancel culture’ barely feature in survey responses on threats to academic freedom

The Swedish Higher Education Authority has reported back to education minister Mats Persson following his request last year for an investigation into perceived threats to academic freedom.

Persson’s call was based on concerns over the apparent growth of “wokeism and cancel culture” in higher education and research institutions. However, the authority’s findings show that those threats have been greatly exaggerated and that what academic staff fear most is political interference in their work.