▶ Your Answer :
It is
difficult to fathom what others think, but my opinion on this statement is
adamant. I believe that University professors should focus on researching
rather than on educating students for the following reasons.
First of
all, professors should focus on researching because their successful research would
provide students and university more job opportunities. Today, people are
living in a world of meritocratic world, where only highly talented ones can
survive. Consequently, it is extremely hard to find a rewarding job because there
are tons of competitors. However, professors’ highly productive and meaning
research could contribute to student’s better occupation. My personal example
can explain this well. During my graduate school years, my professor was so cynical
that he thinks that spending time with students just for fun is a waste of
time. However, he enjoys academic discussion as he always comes up with
brilliant ideas and spends most of his time thinking about his research.
Although he was not a nice teacher, he was an excellent researcher. As I start
to apply for jobs, all the interviewers take into account was my research experience
during graduate school. Great thanks to my professor, I could become a competitive
candidate over many others, end up getting a high-salary job.
In addition,
professor can utilize their time and talent more efficiently by focusing on
research. To be more specific, educating students can be done by other people
such as teaching assistants or lecturer, while professor’s researching cannot
be substituted by such people. Recently, there has been great increase in the
types of jobs in the world. Some jobs are open to everyone that are usually
easy to start while other jobs demand significant amount of time and energy
before people start. Research is one example and it’s usually limited to some people
such as professors because it requires not only professional knowledge and
experience but also great amount of financial support from government or huge
company. Compared to the characteristics of research, teaching is less demanding
and more open to various people. A recent poll conducted by Mary Pitts from
Cornell University can be used to prove this point. She asked 10,000 university
students to rate their classes. Their classes include 50 % presented by
professors and the rest of them presented by lecturer, who are not professors. The
overall respond showed that students actually prefer lecturer’s classes because
of their delivery and the quality of the classes. This reveals that professors
do not necessarily have to spend much time and energy on teaching, which is
already being done successfully by lecturers. Professors can manage their time
and energy more efficiently by focusing on their research.
In summary, I
believe that my explanations above sufficiently prove the reasons why professor
should focus on research rather than teaching. Obviously, the significance of getting
a job and efficiently utilizing time and talent.
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