Tenure Doesn’t Reduce Faculty Self‑Censorship

A new survey of 470 professors (Clark et al.) finds that tenured faculty report as much self‑censorship and fear of consequences, including fear of being fired, as untenured colleagues. Professors most confident in taboo conclusions say they self‑censor more, and nearly all worry about social sanctions for expressing empirical beliefs. — If tenure fails to protect open inquiry, reforms to academic freedom must address social and institutional sanction mechanisms, not just job security.