Study: Some Professors Can't Be Bothered

Times Higher Education's Jack Grove this week reports on a study that suggests "some professors are perceived to shirk their role as advisers and are viewed as 'personal glory seekers,'" he says. Of the 1,200 academic staff respondents to a Leadership Foundation for Higher Education-commissioned survey, 53 percent said "they did not receive sufficient help or advice from professorial staff," Grove says, while 14 percent said they did receive sufficient support. Study lead Linda Evans at University of Leeds tells Times Higher Ed that one respondent described professors as "prima donnas, bullies and not team players." Another, she adds, expressed that professors seem to be "only looking after their own interests." While Evans says the survey comments were predominantly negative, there were some positive notes. "It's certainly not a case of 'professor bashing,'" Evans tells Times Higher Ed. Evans says the survey results may point to a larger issue — that professors are typically hired for their research and teaching records, not for their abilities as advisors. "If we are not careful we will be pulling professors in too many directions. They are not Superman — we can't push them into roles they do not want or cannot do," she says.