College Faculty Member
A college faculty member, often referred to as a professor, is an educator who teaches at postsecondary institutions. They typically hold a master's or doctoral degree in a specific academic discipline, making them qualified to teach within that field. Faculty members are responsible for designing their courses, preparing lectures, and grading student work, along with engaging in scholarly research and writing. This role involves a mix of teaching, advising students, and collaborating with peers on academic projects and departmental policies. The demand for faculty positions varies by discipline, with higher demand in STEM fields compared to social sciences and humanities. The average yearly earnings for college faculty members are around $84,380, and employment opportunities are expected to grow at a rate of 8%, which is faster than average. Faculty members work in a range of environments, including classrooms, laboratories, and offices, and utilize various technologies relevant to their fields. The pathway to becoming a college faculty member generally includes extensive education and research experience, often culminating in the completion of a doctoral dissertation.
College Faculty Member
Snapshot
Career Cluster(s): Education & Training
Interests: Teaching, research, writing, public speaking, helping others, communicating with others
Earnings (Yearly Average): $84,380 per year
Employment & Outlook: 8% (Faster than average)
Entry-Level Education Postsecondary teachers must have a Ph.D. or other doctoral degree in their field
Related Work Experience Teaching experience.
On-the-job-Training Yes, as graduate assistants.
Overview
Sphere of Work. A college faculty member is a professional instructor who teaches courses at a postsecondary institution. They have a master’s or doctorate degree in a specific academic discipline and are considered qualified to teach within that discipline only. Faculty members design their own courses, plan discussion topics, reading and writing assignments, and plan and coordinate test and examination schedules. As they conduct their classes, faculty members lecture students, grade papers and exams, and advise students on their major fields of study. A college faculty member will typically research and write scholarly books and articles on their particular field of expertise and, occasionally, present their individual works at relevant conferences. According to Inside Higher Education in 2023, the demand for assistant professors, the typical title for entry-level faculty members, is high but uneven across disciplines. For example, the demand for those in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields is high, but it is much lower for those in social sciences and humanities fields.
Work Environment. A member of a college faculty typically manages their classes individually (although at larger universities, many professors delegate grading papers and exams or running student discussion groups to graduate students). Outside of the classroom, however, they often collaborate with fellow professors in writing and editing scholarly books and articles. As part of the faculty, they will meet frequently with their department colleagues to discuss departmental policies and other school news. A college faculty member’s workload is therefore diverse, although not physically strenuous.
Occupation Interest. Most people pursue careers in postsecondary institutions because they love to study a particular subject and share their insights with others. Aspiring college faculty members should also be interested in helping to shape young minds. College faculty members are, by nature, intellectuals willing to spend long hours researching, writing on, and teaching the many elements of their particular discipline.
College faculty members (often called professors) come from a wide range of backgrounds and demonstrate an equally broad range of perspectives, experience, and teaching styles. They are considered experts in their fields, having completed many years of study at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
A Day in the Life—Duties and Responsibilities. A member of a college faculty is primarily a teacher, using his or her past studies, research, and professional experience on a particular subject to help others learn more about it. They will select the required texts and articles for the course, design a course syllabus (an overview of the topics for discussion and required reading and homework for each scheduled class), prepare lectures and discussions for each class, lead effective class discussion, and issue and grade tests and student work. Depending on the nature and level of the course, the faculty member may simply lecture a class or provide a “seminar” approach in which students are expected to actively participate.
In addition to their responsibilities to the courses they teach, faculty members will also pursue their own projects, researching and writing scholarly works on topics within their discipline. Occasionally, when these works are published, professors will present these scholarly documents at regional, national, and international conferences. This individual research can help the faculty members continue to work at their respective colleges and even receive tenure (an agreement that the professor may stay on the faculty indefinitely).
College faculty members must also work with other members of their respective departments to shape departmental policies, activities, and courses. Periodically, these individuals may be selected to serve as department chairs, the senior-most position of a department’s faculty.
Work Environment
Immediate Physical Environment. A college faculty member works at buildings that are situated on a university campus. Their immediate physical environment includes classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories, and seminar rooms. They will also perform some of their duties in their offices, such as advising students, meeting with peers, and grading and preparing for classes.
Faculty members who teach engineering, chemistry, and other scientific or vocational courses work in a lab environment and are required to follow certain safety procedures. Faculty may be exposed to some dangerous equipment or chemicals and are responsible for educating students as to their proper handling.
Human Environment. While professors at smaller colleges and universities tend to manage their classes alone, faculty members at larger institutions will often call upon graduate students to assist them in preparing syllabi, grading papers, and lecturing. Professors also meet frequently with one another on departmental matters and collaborate on research projects.
Technological Environment. Faculty members typically use basic office technology and tools to aid them with lecturing, compiling research, organizing class materials, and in communicating with students. Professors working in scientific fields may use a number of other technologies that are relevant to their fields, such as particle accelerators, spectrometers, and engineering equipment.
Education, Training, and Advancement
High School/Secondary. In addition to taking courses in the intellectual discipline in which they are interested, high school students who wish to become college faculty members are encouraged to take classes and participate in clubs that help them develop their research and communications skills, such as debate teams, writing courses, and extracurricular clubs that focus on the field in which they are interested.
Postsecondary. College faculty members develop their knowledge and experience over a period of many years at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Postsecondary students should continue to study all aspects of their chosen discipline at the undergraduate level. Many students choose to obtain an internship in their chosen field, studying this discipline outside the college setting. Additionally, college professors are strongly encouraged to pursue master’s and doctorate degrees in their chosen field, taking a wide range of courses at the graduate level and writing an extensive independent study known as a dissertation.
Related Occupations
− Career & Technical Education Teacher
− Secondary & Middle School Teacher
Bibliography
Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept of Labor. “Postsecondary Teachers.” Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17 Apr. 2024, www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.
Lange, Peter and Anthony J. Olejniczak. "An Uneven Job Market for Assistant Professors." Inside Higher Education, 17 Jan. 2023, www.insidehighered.com/views/2023/01/18/growth-assistant-professorships-uneven-opinion. Accessed 28 Aug. 2024.