Academic freedom is not only an essential factor for the existence of a modern university but also for the development of democracy and the promotion of democratic values. For our organization, these values are particularly important.

At present, it is crucial for us not to lose connection with the Belarusian academic community and to understand what is happening within it. Therefore, we conducted this study to document and understand its current state. Since many Belarusian students moved to study at Polish universities after 2020, we also decided to explore their experiences as part of the current context.

In this study, we rely on the definitions of academic freedom provided in the Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel published by UNESCO in 1997 and in the documents of the Bologna Process.

According to the UNESCO Recommendation, academic freedom is understood as “the right, without being constrained by prescribed doctrine, of scholars to freedom in teaching and discussion, freedom in carrying out research and disseminating and publishing the results thereof, freedom to express freely their opinion about the institution or system in which they work, freedom from institutional censorship, and freedom to participate in professional or representative academic bodies”.

Within the Bologna Process, academic freedom is further defined as “the freedom of academic staff and students to engage in research, teaching, learning, and communication in society and with society without interference or fear of repression” and as a “fundamental democratic right, partly based on the right to education, sharing common elements with freedom of thought, opinion, and expression”.

Given the unique Belarusian educational context, the study also considered topics such as military conscription and mandatory job placement as factors that influence students’ motivation and the quality of the educational process.

We thank the Polish Independent Students’ Association (Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów) and the University of Warsaw, whose support made this study possible. The research was carried out with the financial support of the European Students’ Union and the Open Society Foundation as part of the small grants program on academic freedom. The section of the research concerning Belarusian students in Poland was prepared in cooperation with the Public Bologna Committee.

In our view, the following key conclusions can be drawn from the study:

1. Academic freedom is practically absent in Belarusian universities.

   Between 2020 and now, several tendencies have emerged that undermine basic academic ethics — for example, internships in war-affected regions such as the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and other territories occupied by Russia. Freedom of movement has been heavily restricted, while young men may experience stress due to the risk of being expelled from the university and drafted into the army. University autonomy is also completely absent. Student organizations are usually inactive, do not represent students’ interests, and at most only engage in organizing events, thus becoming what we call “sleeping institutions”. The academic staff has also changed significantly.

2. Despite the difficult context, the Belarusian academic space has not become a completely “scorched field.” New projects and student initiatives sometimes still emerge within universities. Among Belarusian students, critical viewpoints, as well as motivation for learning and personal development still remain.

3. Based on qualitative data, some of the regional universities seem to have slightly more freedom than those in the capital: they have more active student associations, teachers are more open to dialogue and critical communication, elective courses are more common, and administrative pressure is lower.

4. The lack of academic freedom is largely due to the fact that, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarusian society did not develop a demand for it.

   At most, it has remained within the paradigm of “grab your diploma and enter the labor market as quickly as possible.” This attitude toward higher education is, in fact, a global trend: the university is perceived either as a place to acquire skills and knowledge for career advancement and better living conditions or simply as the next step after school. In Belarus, this inertia-based model is even more common. Therefore, the attitude toward higher education as an institution strongly influences the trajectory of academic freedom development at universities.

5. In the quantitative part of the study, we found no major differences between Belarusian students in Belarus and those studying in Poland in most aspects. The main difference is that respondents in Poland chose “I don’t know” far more frequently. Although the institutions of academic freedom are well developed in Poland, Belarusian students are hardly involved in them, and do not perceive them as particularly valuable. This may come as a result of poor integration of foreign students into the Polish educational system. At the same time, Polish students start to integrate from the last years of school through participation in student councils and preparatory programs.

6. The lack of experience with associations and the lack of representation among Belarusian students (and often other international students from post-Soviet countries) in Poland is also a problem.

   Unlike local students who gain self-organization experience already in school, international students are often deprived of such opportunities. University student governments are not always able to meet their needs because of their small numbers. As a result, they struggle to provide meaningful support or a platform for self-expression.