It's simple! Grant applications are so hard because they are so competitive. They are so competitive because a lot of people want to be professors. Currently, t

It's simple! Grant applications are so hard because they are so competitive. They are so competitive because a lot of people want to be professors. Currently, to succeed as a professor you need a research grant. If, instead, we made it easier to advance your career as exactly the kind of pedagogy specialist you described (as well as through leadership in professional organizations, work in the community, and all the other kinds of service), I believe you would get fewer applications to those research grants. It might result in better post-secondary education as well.