Last week, a student of mine asked for my political views. They wanted to know what I thought about the decision by University College Dublin students’ union decision to impeach their president, after she withdrew information about abortion services from a university magazine, spawning a national debate on freedom of speech. I am not without personal opinions on these issues: I am pro-choice. Yet I felt I could not speak freely with my student about this.

Instead, I gave her the sort of non-answer that one would expect from a seasoned politician. “There are many sides to this debate,” I said, “and student politics should be the preserve of students.” I felt distinctly uncomfortable giving a mealy mouthed statement that in no way reflected how I actually felt.

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For me, university is not a place where I can speak my mind. It is a place where I teach facts, present evidence and introduce a diverse range of other people’s attitudes. I seldom, if ever, make my personal opinions known, fearing accusations of bias and – ironically - of stifling free speech. It’s dehumanising to feel that I cannot be honest with my students. At the same time, I worry that I do them a disservice by failing to engage them in debates that might challenge their (or indeed my own) opinions.

To me, it seems that the dual forces of a consumerist vision of academia and a media pushback against the viewpoints of experts are to blame. Take, for example, news reports following MP Chris Heaton-Harris’ request that universities provide him with a list of tutors who lecture on Brexit. In between arguments about McCarthyism and an alleged remainer bias in academia, many professors responded with grander claims of academic freedom and of the embracing of a wide diversity of opinion in the lecture hall.



Permanent​ work​ employment has been elusive. I find myself wondering if this is the key reason for my silence

These are noble pursuits, but universities don’t operate in a societal vacuum. The theory of lively debate in the classroom becomes, in practice, an exercise in giving multiple ideas equal air time, regardless of their merit, as universities take great pains to show their commitment to competing viewpoints. The need to encourage diversity of opinion resembles the automatic call for balance in the media, where counter-arguments are aired regardless of whether they warrant equal attention.



This problem is compounded by the increasing precariousness of lecturing work. In the four years since I completed my PhD, I have moved from one-year contract to one-year contract. I have not struggled to find work, but permanent employment has been elusive. I find myself wondering if this is the key reason for my silence.



It’s not unheard of that academics can find themselves out of a job for publicly expressing a controversial viewpoint. In 2014, for instance, an American scholar, Steven Salaita, had his contract at the University of Illinois rescinded after the board reviewed his tweets criticising Israeli violence against Palestinians. If saying the wrong thing can cost you a hard-won job, then it might be best not to risk saying anything at all.

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While this can be an inconvenience in many careers, in academia it damages the entire system. Part of academic inquiry is to put pressure on competing ideas to see if they hold up under scrutiny. Merely presenting several sides of an argument does not achieve the same thing.

Students then are given the information, but not the tools with which to test its worth. I should be able to challenge their opinions and they, in turn, should be able to challenge mine. Instead, because I risk losing my job, I deny my students that opportunity.



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