Ask HN: Are professors smart but risk averse and that's why they want tenure?
And if so, why does society respect them so much while at the same time also respecting people who are smart and willing to take risks such as Elon Musk?
Tenure helps eliminate bias and financial influence from research. Research that people like Elon Musk rely on in order to make money.
Research output is second. Teaching a distant third.
Risk isn't really a factor. It's just really hard work with no immediate returns.
But you need people like Musk too, who apply that knowledge. The research makes electric cars possible, but people like Musk put them on the road and in space. Two different models necessary to society.
Why is tenure so important?
You're surrounded by 20 year old blue haired angsty people who aren't dealing with their hormones. Tenure makes those profs not a target.
I wouldn't call them risk averse. You get paid peanuts and treated like crap for years in the hope that you'll find a research path that generates funding. It's a lot less risky to get a private sector job and make money.
As far as Elon Musk versus professors, it's a different type of risk. I knew somebody who sacrificed a lot of potential money for years of his life so he could try an contribute to research for a specific medical condition. He was brilliant and I'm sure he could have made 4X the salary in a tech job.
The thing you're missing is that financial stability in your 20s is not worth much, but the same is not true at 50+. Besides that, going by personal experience with my professors, it's one of those jobs where you can continue to be gainfully and meaningfully employed far older than may be achievable at a private enterprise. Plus, I imagine the work is good for an aging mind.
Then you're taking a huge gamble that you are going to win the tenure track prize. Most people don't win that prize. Even if you do good work, there's plenty of stories (even on HN) of an academics career getting wrecked by one influential person.
>Plus, I imagine the work is good for an aging mind.
Yes, if you're lucky enough to sustain a research program into your 60s/70s. IME a lot of professors can't do that as younger researchers overtake them. So then your option is to take on more administrative duties, which is a lot of petty politics. Or you can just check out and ride your tenured status until retirement, which some people do - good for them, not so much for the students in their program.
As you walk that path, you've got to have a lot of faith in the future as you are constantly presented with examples of where the path you are walking on is likely to fail. I was there once and I took the hint early and left academia.