Academic freedom sexism | Richard P Grant

Shutting other people up when you're powerful but frightened isn't defending academic freedom. It's repressing it

Two weeks ago, a Nobel Laureate made some ill-advised remarks in front of the World Conference of Science Journalism.

Whether or not these were intended as a joke is irrelevant at this stage; the remarks were made, people got offended, and the rest is history. Sir Tim Hunt offered his resignation from an honorary position (with no responsibilities and no salary) at University College London, and it was accepted. Again, whether he was pushed or whether he jumped is today of little concern.