Discussing academia always makes me more aware of how universities have shifted their branding over time, influencing how we, as academics, present ourselves. Traditionally, universities were perceived primarily as places of knowledge dissemination rather than knowledge creation. Yet today, it seems that universities, and we academics with them, are more focused on our research output than on our teaching role.
Perhaps this emphasis exists because research performance is easier to quantify. Academics love metrics, and there are plenty of indicators for research performance, like the h-index or grant numbers.
In contrast, the primary metric available for teaching performance is student evaluations, which research shows are deeply influenced by unrelated factors such as the teacher’s gender and race. Because of these biases, teaching evaluations are often considered unreliable and, therefore, easier to dismiss. Interestingly, we don’t apply the same skepticism to peer-reviews, which are also far from bias-proof.
At the same time, external validation is mainly aimed at our research achievements. Imagine a footballer playing two positions at once: assisting others to score (teaching) and being the star goal scorer (research). Only the name of the goal scorer appears on the board and the crowd constantly shouts ‘shoot!’ (publish or perish). The same is true for academics: we’re required to teach and do research at once, and we’re being cheered for our research output and grants. Which role do you think the player or academic will internalise as more important? Yet, both positions require different skills, patience, and effort, and both deserve recognition.
Recently, universities have taken steps to recognise teaching as an equally important task as research. Many offer education prizes that honour outstanding educators with formal recognition and awards, and these prizes are also awarded at the national level across different academic stages. Shifting the focus toward these celebrations, rather than solely on research grants, could reinforce the idea that while the development – and especially the replication – of knowledge is exceptionally valuable, the greatest validation we will ever receive comes from students who truly learn from us.
Despite the infamous line ‘those who can, do; those who can’t, teach’ we should not mistake satire for truth. Teaching is perhaps the most important form of doing, and we should take pride in it.
