5 ms·

The obvious question is whether this is an effective way to encourage professors to be nice or simply a nice way to reward those who would otherwise have been a

by jamn 16y ago

The obvious question is whether this is an effective way to encourage professors to be nice or simply a nice way to reward those who would otherwise have been already nice. In other words, will professors find the possibility of making extra $30k exciting enough to change their attitude? If the answer is no, then perhaps this is not a very good way to bring more niceness to the classroom.

MichaelSalib 16y ago
In other words, will professors find the possibility of making extra $30k exciting enough to change their attitude? If the answer is no, then perhaps this is not a very good way to bring more niceness to the classroom. Even if the answer is no, this can still have a positive benefit. Profs with an extra $30K might use the money to be more productive (i.e., by hiring extra researchers). More productive profs are more likely to succeed in academia and thus more likely to select profs with similar values when their department hires new faculty.
- vecter 16y ago
  That's a valid point, but more successful doesn't necessarily imply "nicer" or "more compassionate", which I believe was the goal of the donation.
ben1040 16y ago
I think more than simply rewarding professors for being "nice," it's rewarding those who recognize that people often have lives outside of school (as Mr Yanai did). A university education is supposed to be challenging, but shouldn't be impossible due to life circumstances. A university education should also be just that, an education, and not a grueling path taken just for the sake of being difficult.
jey 16y ago
The social signaling is probably the more important part than the monetary reward.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  The social signaling won't buy academics a lot, since research is what gets you status. On the other hand, $30k is nothing to scoff at for a US academic - academics are paid vastly less than programmers (depending on the markets, I could get 2x-3x what I got last year). It's my understanding that Israeli academics are paid considerably less than US academics. So $30k could be a very strong incentive. However, the only people who will really change their behavior are the 16'th and 17'th nicest profs at Technion, since they are the only ones who really have a shot at moving into the "nicest 15" category.
  - danohuiginn 16y ago
    Depends what you mean by status. If you limit it to professional advancement, then sure -- although getting involved in department/university administration counts somewhat as a secondary route. But status can also come from being valued and respected by the people around you -- e.g. being admired as a mentor by the PhD students you're supervising. Surely this prize is a step towards recognizing that?
    - yummyfajitas 16y ago
      There are already prizes for teaching, though I've never heard of one larger than $2k. In general, no one cares about such prizes. People only bother to pay attention in edge cases - if faculty X wants to hire applicant A, and Y wants to hire B (where A,B are equally qualified), X might get desperate and point out that A is a good teacher and has a prize.

by jamn 16y ago

MichaelSalib 16y ago

In other words, will professors find the possibility of making extra $30k exciting enough to change their attitude? If the answer is no, then perhaps this is not a very good way to bring more niceness to the classroom. Even if the answer is no, this can still have a positive benefit. Profs with an extra $30K might use the money to be more productive (i.e., by hiring extra researchers). More productive profs are more likely to succeed in academia and thus more likely to select profs with similar values when their department hires new faculty.

vecter 16y ago
That's a valid point, but more successful doesn't necessarily imply "nicer" or "more compassionate", which I believe was the goal of the donation.

ben1040 16y ago

I think more than simply rewarding professors for being "nice," it's rewarding those who recognize that people often have lives outside of school (as Mr Yanai did). A university education is supposed to be challenging, but shouldn't be impossible due to life circumstances. A university education should also be just that, an education, and not a grueling path taken just for the sake of being difficult.

jey 16y ago

The social signaling is probably the more important part than the monetary reward.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
The social signaling won't buy academics a lot, since research is what gets you status. On the other hand, $30k is nothing to scoff at for a US academic - academics are paid vastly less than programmers (depending on the markets, I could get 2x-3x what I got last year). It's my understanding that Israeli academics are paid considerably less than US academics. So $30k could be a very strong incentive. However, the only people who will really change their behavior are the 16'th and 17'th nicest profs at Technion, since they are the only ones who really have a shot at moving into the "nicest 15" category.
- danohuiginn 16y ago
  Depends what you mean by status. If you limit it to professional advancement, then sure -- although getting involved in department/university administration counts somewhat as a secondary route. But status can also come from being valued and respected by the people around you -- e.g. being admired as a mentor by the PhD students you're supervising. Surely this prize is a step towards recognizing that?
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    There are already prizes for teaching, though I've never heard of one larger than $2k. In general, no one cares about such prizes. People only bother to pay attention in edge cases - if faculty X wants to hire applicant A, and Y wants to hire B (where A,B are equally qualified), X might get desperate and point out that A is a good teacher and has a prize.