What if people at universities practised “one compliment a year”?
Well-deserved compliments are a motivating force.
by Christine Overall
Perhaps more than any other social institution, universities are supposed to be about merit. Academics are constantly evaluating their students and each other. Some universities also generate annual merit ratings for faculty members. While the merit process may vary from one institution to another, one outcome is universal: some faculty members will complain about the merit rating they’ve been assigned.
Usually a good merit rating translates into a salary increase, but not a large one. A few points, either way, make little monetary difference. So it might seem odd for faculty to grumble when their merit ratings are not as good as anticipated. Of course, small salary increases can, over the life of a 30-year career, add up to a big difference by retirement age. But I suspect that’s not why faculty members protest lower-than-expected merit ratings.
What people are really upset about is receiving an inaccurate estimation of what they take to be their value. As faculty members, we were, once upon a time, almost all A-students who earned high marks and won prizes. But once we receive an academic position, the recognitions can be few and far between. The superstars get major awards, large grants, named chairs and honorary degrees. The rest of us are expected to plug away year after year, dealing with papers that get turned down, books that are reviewed badly, grant applications that are rejected and students who complain.
Sure, if we’re a little better than average we can look forward to winning tenure and eventually promotion to associate and full professor. But three landmarks aren’t much to sustain an entire career. As a result, we’re all hungry for positive feedback.
Some years ago a colleague remarked that it would be good if each of us could receive “one compliment a year” from the people who are responsible for evaluating us. That wistful comment captured something important about academia: it’s usually a world of criticism, much more than praise. Criticizing is what we’ve been trained to do; it’s supposed to enable us to improve. But for many people, criticism – which often is perceived as rejection – is not motivating.
What if people at universities practised “one compliment a year” for everyone they work with or supervise? It would make more work for colleagues, department chairs and deans, who would have to genuinely take notice of what people are accomplishing. But surely that extra work would be worthwhile: it would discern the real contributions faculty members make to their universities.
Some people already do this. I know of thoughtful colleagues who send a congratulatory note or e-mail when their co-worker gets an article published or gives an outstanding presentation. But they’re the exception. Most of us feel too busy to notice each other’s activities … and there may also be a little bit of envy involved: in academia’s “culture of scarcity,” when one person wins another person has to lose.
But that’s not always the case. There are some accomplishments from which we all benefit: a well-run meeting, a productive committee, a well-organized conference or a draft paper that receives useful feedback. These accomplishments result from valuable labour that deserves to be praised.
Cynics might say there are faculty members who don’t warrant even one compliment a year. I’m not so sure. Most “deadwood” is long gone from academia. Standards have risen to such a level (whether or not their ascent is reasonable) that faculty members are inevitably accomplished individuals.
Of course, it happens that people have a poor year. There are deaths in the family, divorces and illnesses. There are other kinds of disappointments, too: the teaching award that goes to someone else; the carefully rewritten article, after a “revise-and-resubmit” notice, that gets rejected nonetheless; the bid for promotion that’s inexplicably turned down. Events like these can lead to a few months, or even a year, of lacklustre productivity. Still, that same individual may have done a great job chairing a committee, supervising a graduate student or writing a departmental plan. We all deserve acknowledgment for the varied ways we contribute.
Even on a budgetary basis, one compliment a year makes sense. In truly straitened monetary times, it may turn out to be the only form of recognition and reward most people get.
Christine Overall teaches in the department of philosophy at Queen’s University and is our regular columnist on philosophical issues in the academy.
