Young faculty members know that in order to be granted tenure, they must achieve distinction through both good teaching, and by an impressive record of research and publication. Most faculty stated that it was nearly impossible to achieve tenure in their department without substantial publication. Nonetheless, institutions emphasize the importance of good teaching. However, it is difficult for professors to live up to a standard which demands that they be good teachers and produce good research. The effects of the pressure on faculty, can, of course, result in a detrimental effect on the students.
Professors feel the pressure to publish much less than they feel the pressure to excel as teachers.
At some institutions, one must remember, there is less pressure to publish than at others. At research institutions, the pressure to publish is strong, yet at liberal arts and comprehensive colleges, the mission is primarily teaching undergraduates. Still, Boyer states that even at these colleges, where, not all professors are or should be publishing researchers, they nonetheless should be first-rate scholars. A professor can be a scholar without publication of books, articles, monographs, by writing textbooks, participating in conferences, developing new approaches to teaching, and most of all, by being effective in the classroom. Scholarship, Boyer emphasizes, is at the heart of the teaching profession.