I often hear that college professors don’t work very much. Some conclude this by observing we sometimes shop in the middle of the day, or garden during the week. I would like to explain something: Working is not limited to the socially mandated “workday.”
My contract runs from August through May and stipulates 12 to 15 hours per week teaching, with the remainder of time (contractually, 40 hours) for preparation, service and research.
In reality, I put in closer to 55 hours per week on these tasks.
Over the summer, when I do not draw a salary, I log close to 40 hours per week doing much the same.
Some might ask, isn’t summer stuff just extra? And don’t you travel to exotic locations for research and presentations?
It’s not extra. My job literally depends on it.
I won’t get some fancy raise. I have not had one in five years, and won’t in the foreseeable future. But I must keep myself current in my discipline if I have any hopes of being a good teacher.
I am contractually obligated to produce scholarly works, which usually doesn’t happen during the semester. If I don’t produce, I can be sanctioned. I travel for research, but I pay for much of that myself.
There are scores of blogs and articles on this subject, but they fail to convince the general public that we professors work hard.
Is the problem that we can be seen shopping or gardening in the middle of the day? If we didn’t do that, would the criticisms die down? I don’t think so. The baseless accusation that we just teach our classes and therefore just work when we’re in the classroom would remain.
Teaching takes a lot of advance preparation, even for repeat classes.
Good teachers always update and tweak because students are different, ask different questions, and have different levels of understanding. We do this outside the classroom, and outside “normal” working hours.
Of course, “work” does not simply mean the 9-to-5 shift. Many occupations have night shifts. “Work” also does not simply mean Monday through Friday; aren’t retail stores open on weekends? Should we assume that those employees work seven days a week and the only people not working on a given weekday are teachers?
Really, why should anyone care if I’m shopping at 9:30 a.m. or 9:30 p.m., as long as my classes — which may begin at, or later, than 5 p.m. — are taught. What does it matter as long as my papers are graded, my service is completed, my students are helped with academic difficulties, and my research is undertaken?
Teachers are not lazy. We are not the enemy. We are professionals who work as hard as dentists, restaurant managers, reporters and people in a host of other occupations.
Working different hours does not mean not working.
Kathleen Comerford teaches history at Georgia Southern University.
