Dr Joanna Williams
academic; author, How Woke Won and The Breaking of the Education Contract: Why we need to keep politics out of schools

Joanna Williams is an academic, author and commentator. Her latest book is The Breaking of the Education Contract: Why we need to keep politics out of schools (2026). Her previous titles include How Woke Won (2022); Women vs Feminism (2017); Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity (2016) and Consuming Higher Education: Why Learning Can’t Be Bought (2012). She is a columnist for the online magazine Spiked and writes regularly for The Times, Spectator and Telegraph.

Joanna joined the University of Kent as a lecturer in Higher Education and Academic Practice in 2007, where she later became director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Since leaving academia, Joanna has worked for think tanks, including Policy Exchange and Civitas.

Follow Joanna on X @jowilliams293 and on Substack

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