ABSTRACT
Despite the reality that most graduate students will seek teaching careers, there is little or no focus on training us to be teachers. The assumption seems to be that teachers who are preparing to teach at the public school level need training, but not the group which is being schooled to be professors. Given this reality it is not surprising that the issue of self-esteem is never raised as a concern all professors might need to address if they are to prepare us to be excellent teachers. There has always been an accepted notion that smart people have good self-esteem and therefore need not work at building it. In actuality, many “smart” children harbor deep feelings of low self-esteem and learn that academic achievement can be the best cover-up.
