ぶん after a standard form verb vs ほど or くらい


I came across an example like this:

> 頼り無さげに 見られるぶん；生徒達に慕って もらえるのは 素直に嬉しい  
>  tayorinasage ni mirareru bun; seitotachi ni shitatte moraeru no wa sunao ni
> ureshii

After searching several grammar dictionaries, I haven't seen a single example
of ぶん used like this, nor of げ used after a さ nominalization of of an i-adj.
Eventually, with the help of a native Japanese-speaker, I parsed this sentence
like this:

> "The degree to which I am seen as appearing unreliable, as for being able to
> get my students to look up to me, I am truly happy."

I've interpreted it as the teacher explaining that she'd rather be admired
than respected. For a more natural translation:

> "As much as they might see me as unreliable, my students' affection is what
> truly makes me happy."

This seems like an odd usage of ぶん, I'd expect either ほど or くらい in this
position. The closest example on this site I've found is: [The meaning of “ぶん”
in “見ているぶんには…”](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/13653/), but this
deals with a post-verb ぶん only in a specific context. Is this use of ぶん
common?




According to 明鏡国語辞典：

> ぶん【分】...  
>  (語法) 「・・・分（だけ）、・・・」の形で、その程度に応じて他の事柄の程度も進む意を表す。「期待していなかった **分**
> 、余計にうれしかった」「スピードを上げた **分だけ** 疲れが出た。」

In the format of "~~分(だけ)、~~", it indicates that the degree of something
becomes greater in accordance with the higher degree of something else.
「期待していなかった **分** 、余計にうれしかった」 "I felt all the happier because I wasn't
expecting that." 「スピードを上げた **分だけ** 疲れが出た。」 "I got all the more exhausted
because I increased my speed."

So I think the ぶん in your example means " **All the more for/because...** "

> 頼り無さげに見られる **ぶん** 、生徒達に慕ってもらえるのは素直に嬉しい。

"Frankly / Naturally I feel **all the happier** that my students adore / look
up to / count on me **because** I am (usually/often) seen unreliable."




According to 明鏡国語辞典：

> ぶん【分】...  
>  (語法) 「・・・分（だけ）、・・・」の形で、その程度に応じて他の事柄の程度も進む意を表す。「期待していなかった **分**
> 、余計にうれしかった」「スピードを上げた **分だけ** 疲れが出た。」

In the format of "~~分(だけ)、~~", it indicates that the degree of something
becomes greater in accordance with the higher degree of something else.
「期待していなかった **分** 、余計にうれしかった」 "I felt all the happier because I wasn't
expecting that." 「スピードを上げた **分だけ** 疲れが出た。」 "I got all the more exhausted
because I increased my speed."

So I think the ぶん in your example means " **All the more for/because...** "

> 頼り無さげに見られる **ぶん** 、生徒達に慕ってもらえるのは素直に嬉しい。

"Frankly / Naturally I feel **all the happier** that my students adore / look
up to / count on me **because** I am (usually/often) seen unreliable."

