On most mornings, before a single lecture begins or an idea takes shape, the Pakistani professor is already mentally exhausted. The day starts with inbox alerts, university circulars, deadlines, and constant pressure to show research output. On campuses meant for inquiry, thinking itself has become a costly effort.
A Culture Where Metrics Eclipse Meaning
Across Pakistan’s universities, intellectual depth is often overshadowed. Over the past two decades, institutions have expanded, but the spirit of learning has weakened. What was once a space for national thought has turned into a machine of forms, routines, and self-preservation.
Professors, once seen as moral anchors of society, now find themselves following the rhythm of institutional metrics. Research output outweighs research insight, and promotion systems reward quantity rather than originality. Those who chase numbers advance more quickly than those who pursue meaningful ideas. Scholarship increasingly resembles performance rather than genuine knowledge creation.
The Mirage of Productivity
In the race to publish, Pakistan’s academic system has become transactional. Co-authorships are sometimes traded rather than earned, and journals expand less to share knowledge and more to show activity.
While similar pressures exist globally, Pakistan’s institutions often fail to safeguard originality. Creativity comes at a cost, forcing innovative thinkers aside in favor of those who simply meet the metrics.
A Hierarchy Built on Obedience
Universities promise intellectual freedom but often operate like bureaucracies. Authority flows from vice chancellors to deans, deans to department chairs, and chairs to faculty members. Each level protects its own interests, reinforcing a culture of compliance.
Meetings that could inspire ideas become mere formalities. Questioning authority can lead to isolation. Over time, professors adapt by holding themselves back. Curiosity begins to feel like a risk.
Losing the Compass of Inquiry
There was a time when professors shaped national discourse and nurtured the country’s intellectual imagination. Today, their desks are crowded with evaluation forms, plagiarism checks, and citation requirements. Conversations about education now revolve around indicators rather than ideals.
Veteran academics describe a growing mental exhaustion. Deep thinking feels unsafe. Reflection is replaced by repetition. The system continues to produce graduates, but not thinkers.
Global Irony, Local Strain
The pressure to perform is not unique to Pakistan. Around the world, universities chase rankings and visibility. But stronger systems have safeguards such as effective peer review and ethical frameworks. Pakistan’s higher education landscape often lacks these protective layers. Success is measured in numbers: projects, conferences, and indexed papers. The pursuit of truth competes with the need to perform.
The Emotional Economy No One Measures
Professors learn to write cautious emails, prepare flattering proposals, and speak carefully. Many ideas remain unwritten and critiques unvoiced. This fatigue spills into classrooms. When teachers avoid risk, students learn to avoid it as well. A system that values obedience in teachers inevitably suppresses innovation in students.
Penalties of Wasted Cognition
The mental effort consumed by managing deadlines, paperwork, and citation metrics could be invested in books, research, or transformative ideas. Instead, it disappears into procedural tasks. Intellectual loss is far more difficult to recover than financial loss.
A Faint but Real Possibility
Despite the pressures, small acts of courage still exist: an honest discussion in class, a research question that challenges norms, a professor who refuses to compromise. These quiet choices sustain the hope for meaningful scholarship.
A Cost Too High to Ignore
The cognitive cost of being a professor in Pakistan goes beyond long hours or administrative burdens. It reflects the erosion of academic freedom, the foundation of higher education. Until professors can think freely, teach openly, and conduct research without undue pressure, the light of learning will remain dim.
