Why Don't Professors Like to Teach?
Did you know that many college professors don't like to teach?
Over the years, the number of hours that college professors devote to teaching college students has dropped significantly.
Between 1988 and 2004, for example, teaching loads for professors at research universities plummeted by 42%. Even at liberal arts colleges, which pride themselves on their teaching, the time that professors spend in the classroom has fallen 32%.
The reason is simple, according to a policy paper by the Center For College Affordability and Productivity. Professors are rewarded for staying out of the classroom. The big money in the higher-ed world is in research. It's definitely not in teaching a bunch of undergraduates Psych 101 or holding office hours.
Why Professors Don't Like to Teach
Here's the center's take on the professor AWOL problem:
"National reputations are built through research not teaching. The federal government gives billions in grant money for research, not teaching...
Is it any wonder that faculty push for lower teaching loads to increase their research prowess, in their minds increasing their chances for winning research grants? "
Putting Professors Back in the Classroom
The policy paper suggests that there are ways to put professors back in classrooms.States could mandate that all professors teach a minimum number of hours each week. This would no doubt freak out Nobel laureates who think undergrads have cooties. An alternative would be to impose a department-wide average on professor teaching hours.
Another alternative would be for colleges and universities to reward exemplary professors while reducing the rewards for research. This sounds like an excellent idea to me. We'd get better teaching and less busy-work-caliber research that no one ever reads.
Lynn O'Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes for TheCollegeSolutionBlog.
Professor image by mischiru. CC 2.0.