Par Jenna Balaguer
Productivity is generally defined as the amount of output produced relative to the input—such as time, labour, or resources—used. While this definition is widely accepted, it can vary depending on the context, such as in academia, where productivity could be measured differently.
In the academic world, outputs are not tangible « products » but often new knowledge, insights, or contributions to existing bodies of work, which leads to a profound paradox of being ‘productive’. In the current system, academia demands high productivity. Still, the nature of academic work requires time for deep thinking, creativity, and reflection, which are hard to fit into rigid productivity metrics. Metrics to define academia may differ from other domains but are presented in many ways; still, the number of scientific publications is the most recognized and can be easily quantified. Unfortunately, this metric does not fit when the time for reflection and more profound understanding is reduced in favour of producing publishable content quickly.
So when are we supposed to think?
If we want to call it like this, knowledge ‘production’ is inherently a slow, iterative process involving creativity, contemplation, and often collaboration, and IT TAKES TIME!
Albert Einstein spent nearly a decade developing his Theory of General Relativity, and Marie Curie dedicated many years to pioneering research on radioactivity. In fact, both spent their entire careers advancing their fields. Ok, I agree; these examples from over a century ago may seem quite distant and unrealistically comparable, but the importance of long-term commitment to research is still evident today. For example, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their work on messenger RNA research, which enabled the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. Their breakthrough, however, resulted from more than 30 years of dedicated research on mRNA, long before it became crucial for this vaccine.
Unstructured « free » time is needed for the creative and research process, where ideas can only be explored when the pressure of immediate output is removed. Does modern academia favour quick wins and incremental research over riskier, longer-term projects requiring substantial thought and innovation? Probably. But then, how do we navigate through this? Some solutions would be re-evaluating tenure metrics to prioritize quality and innovation over quantity and implementing policies to encourage academics to pursue long-term projects. Universities and funding bodies can also play a role in reshaping productivity measures, perhaps through grants for exploratory research that don’t require immediate and quick publications but other forms of output.
Academic productivity should ultimately be about contributing lasting, valuable knowledge — a goal that requires and deserves…. Time :-)
Newport, C. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout (Portfolio, 2024).
Jenna Balaguer 
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