El Chronicle of Higher Education que la UCLA ha fet una enquesta (és trianual) entre els professors dels USA. Un petit extracte, només:
A small proportion — 53 percent, down from 66 percent in 1989 — also now cite “becoming an authority in my field” as a very important or ssential goal. “Influencing social values” and “developing a meaningful philosophy of life” have also fallen, while “being very well off financially” has risen. About 36 percent described that as very important or essential in 1989; now 42.7 percent do.
En un altre lloc…
On the teaching-versus-research issue, the survey found that 27 per cent of all professors — and 44 per cent of those at public universities — felt that demands for research interfered with teaching. That wasn’t surprising for research universities, Mr. Astin said. But the fact that a third of the
professors at public baccalaureate institutions also shared that view was disturbing, he said. Only 16 per cent of those at private baccalaureate colleges felt research interfered with their teaching. Mr. Astin said the survey pointed to several problems — particularly the conflict between teaching and research — that administrators could address immediately. If he were an administrator, he said, “I’d start a dialogue about
faculty job descriptions, to see which faculty members might like to redefine their jobs. I’d also get more discussion going on institutional values. It’s distressing to see so many universities putting emphasis on self-aggrandizement.” He suggested that institutions consider ways to ccommodate professors’ individual strengths and interests. One strategy, he said, might be to allow professors to concentrate on teaching or research, rather than holding all to the same expectations. In fact, the idea of establishing faculty career tracks is starting to attract interest in academe.