{"id":303427,"date":"2022-01-25T04:55:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T09:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knightfoundation.org\/?post_type=report&p=303427"},"modified":"2023-03-24T10:14:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T14:14:56","slug":"college-student-views-on-free-expression-and-campus-speech-2022","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/knightfoundation.org\/reports\/college-student-views-on-free-expression-and-campus-speech-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"College Student Views on Free Expression and Campus Speech 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A Look at Key Trends in Student Speech Views Since 2016 <\/h4>\n<\/div>
\n

OVERVIEW<\/h2>\n<\/div>
\n

College campuses have long been places where the limits of free expression are debated and tested. In recent years, this dialogue has grown more fraught as some schools have sought to create a more protective speech environment for students. Moreover, key events shaping the past two years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement and the 2020 election, have only added deeper dimensions to the dialogue around free speech playing out on campus and in society at large. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

The \u201cKnight-Ipsos College Student Views on Free Expression and Campus Speech\u201d report is the fourth in a series of Knight Foundation reports<\/a> measuring college student attitudes toward speech and the First Amendment since 2016. For this report, Knight Foundation commissioned Ipsos to conduct a survey with a nationally representative sample of over 1,000 college students ages 18-24 enrolled in all types of higher education institutions, along with 4,000 American adults, offering insight into how college students\u2019 views on free speech compare with those of the general public. In addition to the past Knight-Gallup campus speech surveys (2016, 2017, 2019), Knight has studied free speech views among high school students since 2004. Trends in college student attitudes are included throughout this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

For findings on how the adult population views free speech and expression, please see \u201cFree Expression in America Post<\/a>-2020,\u201d published earlier in January 2022. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

This Knight Foundation-Ipsos report offers nuanced insight into how college students perceive campus speech and First Amendment protections today, including how views are evolving within different factions of the student body. This survey reinforces that students are not a monolithic group when it comes to speech, finding that partisanship, race, and ethnicity drive meaningful differences in how college students view speech. Understanding where different groups stand is vitally important for higher education leaders as they seek to foster free expression on college campuses and create a campus environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

The findings described in this report cover many, but not all, of the rich insights possible from this complex dataset. We invite the public and researchers to explore this publicly available resource in further detail. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<\/h2>\n<\/div>
\n
    \n
  • Students view speech rights as important, yet less secure than in years past: <\/strong>Students continue to believe First Amendment rights and concepts of free speech are important to democracy. However, the percentage of students saying speech rights are secure has fallen every year since this question was first asked in 2016. This includes a 12-point decrease from 2019 as an increasing number of students\u2014particularly Republicans\u2014say they believe speech rights are threatened. <\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
  • Students of color believe their speech is less protected: <\/strong>While a majority of college students express confidence that the First Amendment protects \u201cpeople like them,\u201d Black students in particular feel much less protected, with a sharp decline from 2019 to 2021. <\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
  • Students believe exposure to a wide spectrum of speech at college is important: <\/strong>Most students continue to say colleges should allow students to be exposed to all types of speech, including political speech that is offensive or biased, rather than prohibiting speech they may find offensive. <\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
  • Students favor college policies that limit racist speech, but support for other speech interventions remains low: <\/strong>Most students favor colleges instituting policies that restrict the use of racial slurs on campus, suggesting that, for them, this particular category of speech does not merit mandated exposure on campus. Just 1 in 4 students favor schools disinviting controversial speakers, down from more than 2 in 5 in 2019. Similarly, the number of students who support colleges providing safe spaces or speech codes has fallen over the past two years. <\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
  • Students say the campus climate stifles free expression, yet speech on campus is making nearly 1 in 5 feel unsafe: <\/strong>More students now say the climate at school prevents some from saying things others might find offensive, and fewer feel comfortable disagreeing in class. Yet slightly more now report feeling unsafe because of comments made on campus than in 2019. This is particularly true for female students and students of color. <\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>
    \n

    KEY CHARTS<\/h2>\n<\/div>
    \n

    A selection of key trends among students over the years. Full findings are in the body of the report. <\/p>\n<\/div>

    \n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>
    \n