Steven Kerr highlights a contradiction between what universities are expected to prioritise and what their reward systems actually encourage. Teaching is a central responsibility of academic staff, yet career advancement, professional recognition and institutional prestige often depend more heavily on research output and publications. This imbalance can be particularly pronounced at prestigious research universities, where publication records are important measures of academic achievement.

The quotation illustrates how institutional incentives can shape behaviour, regardless of stated intentions. Academics who devote more time to research than teaching may be responding rationally to the criteria by which their performance is assessed. Kerr’s broader argument is that organisations frequently reward one form of behaviour while expecting another, creating a gap between their declared objectives and actual practices. The criticism is not directed at research itself, but at reward systems that fail to reflect the full range of institutional responsibilities. Effective incentives require consistency between what an organisation values and what it recognises.