Faculty Autonomy and Academic Freedom in Democratic Education: Comparative Perspectives from Mexico and the United States

• In Event: Negotiating Progress: Postsecondary Faculty Development, Collaboration, and Governance

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how higher education faculty in Mexico and the United States experience and navigate national education policies that claim to support democratic education. Based on interviews with 16 professors, the study employs a comparative approach. It draws on democratic theories (Fraser, Mouffe, Glaude) to analyze five emerging themes: the contradictions between policy and practice, ideological reframing of civics, suppression of academic freedom, politicization of research, and symbolic participation in governance. Faculty in both contexts report having limited freedom, self-censorship, and adherence to technocratic rules in their teaching and research. Despite institutional differences, shared factors persist in hindering participation in democracy. Faculty members manage university responsibilities while being constrained in public spheres under the guise of democratic reform.

Authors

• Jenifer Crawford, University of Southern California

• Elida Sanchez-Cruz, Universidad Veracruzana

• Isai Ali Guevara Bazan, Universidad Veracruzana

• Jorge Martinez Cortes, Universidad Veracruzana