A recent Forbes magazine article by Suzan Adams created such a stir through torrents of reader comments that she had to quickly update it, acknowledging that she may have been mistaken – though not apologising for the offense. In “The Least Stressful Jobs of 2013”, she had given the impression that university faculty had such easy-going jobs that they were to be envied for their generally stress-free (i.e. possibly lazy) lifestyles:"University professors have a lot less stress than most of us. Unless they teach summer school, they are off between May and September and they enjoy long breaks during the school year, including a month over Christmas and New Year's and another chunk of time in the spring. Even when school is in session they don't spend too many hours in the classroom ... Working conditions tend to be cozy and civilized…."
Note the phrase “unless they teach summer school”, and note the focus on “hours in the classroom”, as if work outside the classroom such as grading, student office hours, faculty meetings and committees, research, creating new activities and exams, and updating syllabi and course material does not count.
Although Adams cites her major source of information, CareerCast, she clearly overlooks the work university faculty are involved in outside the classroom, which her source does mention: “Work beyond the lecture hall is also a vital facet of the professor’s day. Postsecondary educators can assist in scholarship committees and curriculum development. Research is also a critical part of the university professor’s responsibilities, as educators typically are expected to produce published works” (Kensing).
One of Suzan Adams’ critics, Forbes colleague David Kroll, has countered her article, expressing surprise and disappointment at her “misguided” piece in “Top 10 Reasons Being a University Professor is a Stressful Job”. Based on his personal experience, among the reasons for faculty members’ stress are the following: “the customer is always right” mentality applied to students unprepared for higher education; abuse of part-time faculty (threatening full-timers that they may be replaced by adjuncts); administrators and the public undervaluing teaching loads; administrators undervaluing online teaching (“If you’re already teaching the class, it’ll be nothing to throw it up online, right? “); hiring too many administrators at the expense of faculty members; and the fact that “tenure” has become meaningless: “I’ve rarely seen a tenured professor be fired but a professor with tenure who is deemed unproductive by whatever anonymous review can certainly be made to wish they didn’t have a job.”
Any experienced educator would rightly side with Adams’ critics. The fact that Adams cites a source is not enough to justify her warped, overgeneralized claims.
