Higher Ed Jobs - Careers and Interview Tips

Assistant Professor - Salary and Defintion

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Assistant Professor: Career & Salary Guide - AcademicJobs.com Podcast

This episode discusses all things you need to know about being an assistant professor in higher education. It details the typical job responsibilities, including teaching, research, and student advising, highlighting the required qualifications, primarily a doctorate or equivalent terminal degree. The text also explores the career path, from assistant to associate professor and the possibility of tenure, along with salary and job growth projections based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Finally, it briefly mentions related alternative careers requiring advanced degrees.


Key Themes and Information:

  1. Nature of the Role:
    • Assistant Professor is an entry-level professorship within the academic hierarchy.
    • The core responsibilities include:
    • Teaching courses at various levels in their specialisation, involving lesson planning, assignment grading and student guidance.
    • Conducting research with the goal of publication in scientific articles or books.
    • Supervising graduate students and their thesis and dissertation work.
    • Staying abreast of the latest developments in their field.
    • The text emphasises that assistant professors typically aim to progress to associate professor, and then secure a tenured position.
      1. Career Progression:
        • The typical career path is from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor and finally to a tenured professorship.
        • Progression to Associate Professor involves an evaluation of the Assistant Professor's performance.
        • Tenure, a “permanent employment contract”, is secured after a second evaluation.
        • The text notes that this progression “can take years”, and is not guaranteed.
        • The attainment of tenure depends heavily on "publication history and teaching record”.
        • The importance of research versus teaching may vary by university. The difficulty of securing tenure can vary by field.
          1. Educational Requirements:
            • A doctorate (Ph.D.) is the most common requirement.
            • The text acknowledges alternative terminal degrees are sometimes accepted, depending on the field. For example:
            • Master of Fine Arts (MFA) for creative writing roles.
            • Juris Doctorate (J.D.) for law roles.
            • Medical Degree for medicine roles.
            • The text notes that a terminal degree is almost always a requirement; however, in rare cases a professorship may be awarded based on substantial professional achievement. The example given is Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, who achieved professorship based on published work despite only holding a bachelor’s degree.
              1. Employment and Salary:
                • Job prospects for postsecondary teachers in general are predicted to grow by 12% between 2020-2030, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
                • The mean annual salary for all types of postsecondary teachers was $86,430 (as of May 2020), though the text implies that salaries vary based on field of study.
                  1. Related Career Paths:
                    • Biochemists and biophysicists are highlighted as related careers, requiring a doctoral or professional degree. These scientists undertake similar research and publication activities, and often oversee lab teams.


                      • For more visit AcademicJobs.com

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