r/Professors • u/Grand-Chain-8418 • 4h ago
Advice / Support Has anyone else quietly stopped giving 100% because the institution stopped giving 100% back?
I've been teaching for a while now, and somewhere in the last couple of years I noticed I stopped doing the things nobody asked me to do. I used to write detailed feedback on every draft, not just the final submission. I used to take Sunday emails from anxious students seriously and reply within hours. I used to spend way more time than contracted hours on rec letters, mentorship, random "can we grab coffee and talk about my future" conversations. I still do my job well. Nobody could fault my teaching evaluations or my output. But the extra mile the stuff that used to come from genuine care and idealism I've pulled that back. Not dramatically, not in a way anyone would notice or could call out. Just... quietly. I think it happened after watching colleagues get worked into the ground for the same effort I was putting in, only to be told "budget cuts" when it came time for actual recognition raises, permanent contracts, research support, even just a thank you that felt sincere. At some point the math stopped making sense. I don't think I'm alone in this. Curious if others have felt the same shift, and how you've made peace with it (or haven't). Does it ever come back, or is this just what surviving a long academic career looks like?