Third of uni students want teachers of offensive material fired, new poll

One in three university students say tutors should be fired if they “teach material that heavily offends some students”, according to a troubling new report which warns of a growing higher education monoculture.

A study by the?Higher Education Policy Institute, an independent think-tank, says that support for freedom of expression on university campuses has declined over the past six years.

More than a third (36 per cent) of the 1,000 students polled said that lecturers should be dismissed for teaching material some students may find distressing, compared with 15 per cent who took part in a similar survey in 2016.

Meanwhile, 61 per cent of participants said “when in doubt”, their university “should ensure all students are protected?from discrimination rather than allow unlimited free speech”, up from 37 per cent.

At the same time, the proportion of students who believe “universities are becoming less tolerant of a wide range of viewpoints” has hiked to 38 per cent, up 14 per cent on the previous study.

Likewise, there is an increased appetite for protesting events (39 per cent from 33 per cent), disrupting events (12 per cent from 5 per cent), stopping events from happening (20 per cent from 8 per cent) and no-platforming individuals altogether (50 per cent from 36 per cent).

Elsewhere, support for student unions banning copies of tabloid newspapers that share “sexist” views from being sold rose by 24 percentage points, as did the need for “trigger warnings”, by 9 percentage points.

A significant proportion of students believe that one or more political groups should be barred from speaking on campus. The English Defence League and the UK Independence Party drew the highest level of cynicism (26 and 24 per cent respectively).

A full 11 per cent believe that Conservative Party politicians should not be allowed to address people at higher education institutions, compared with 5 per cent for Labour politicians.

If you want proof of the free speech problem infecting higher education, look no further.