Academic Freedom in Graduate Student Union Collective Bargaining Agreements

Graduate student unionization has rapidly increased over the last decade, with almost 40% of graduate student employees unionized by 2024. Yet, little is known about how these contracts address graduate students’ academic freedom – an often-ambiguous area due to graduate students’ dual roles on campus as both employees and students. Using textual analysis of thirteen collective bargaining agreements, this study examines how graduate student collective bargaining agreements include and address matters of academic freedom and the implications this may have on graduate students’ roles on campus and in the greater campus hierarchy. Results reveal that graduate student collective bargaining agreements vary greatly in how they choose to address academic freedom and how institutions choose to incorporate matters of free speech, intellectual property, and student research as well. Further, these results underscore the complexities of graduate student roles and responsibilities as a student and employee and the complexities of navigating academic freedom in competing roles.