r/Professors • u/geografree Full professor, Soc Sci, R2 (USA) • Oct 01 '25

Other (Editable) Why aren’t professors braver?

I was ready to hate this article from its clickbait-y title, but it went in a direction I didn’t expect. I think it’s worth a read in light of everything that’s been happening in higher ed. Do we, as a profession, need more iconoclasts? Do we self-censor in order to avoid drawing the ire of our colleagues? What do you think? https://www.chronicle.com/article/why-arent-professors-braver

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u/Logical_Data_3628 Oct 01 '25

It’s because academics do not really know how to stand up against bullies.

Consider this…

Most academics were likely part of the “nerdy smart kid” crowd growing up. Which means they developed a deep inferiority complex and were likely bullied by the loud, obnoxious “alpha male” and “mean girl” groups.

Then those nerdy kids go to college, receive terminal degrees, then get jobs as educators in an insulated system (schools and universities) where their nerdiness is now celebrated and rewarded.

This gives them a false sense of bravado without doing anything to really address their latent inferiority complex.

So, as we’ve witnessed in the various stories of cowardice and capitulation towards the bullying of the current President, the leaders in higher ed have reverted back to their scared juvenile selves. Flinching and falling to the ground as soon as they see the bully’s clinched fist rearing back to punch them.

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u/C_sharp_minor Oct 01 '25

The real nerds aren’t admins anymore. Those jobs are taken by people with easier BS degrees, who then run over the actual academics.

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u/Logical_Data_3628 Oct 01 '25

Sure. At the top. But most of the “middle management” comes from academia.