In the U.S., "Professors" commonly occupy any of several positions in academia, typically the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or full Professor.
Research and education are among the main tasks of professors with the time spent in research or teaching depending strongly on the type of institution. Publication of articles in conferences, journals, and books is essential to occupational advancement.[1] As of August 2007 teaching in tertiary educational institutions is one of the fastest growing occupations, topping the U.S. Department of Labor's list of "above average wages and high projected growth occupations," with a projected increase of 524,000 positions between 2004 and 2014.[2]
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Most professors in the U.S. are male, liberal (in the American political sense),[3][4][5] and upper middle class.[6] A slight majority of professors ranked among the top 15% of wage earners, in 2005.[7]
According to a study by Robert Lichter, a professor at George Mason University, "The vast majority of professors in the United States identify themselves as liberal, and registered Democrats commonly outnumber registered Republicans." This varies across departments.[3] Despite the liberal leaning of most professors, political scientist Brett O'Bannon of DePauw University has pointed out that the liberal opinions of professors seem to have little if any effect on the political orientation of students.[8] In terms of education, the vast majority hold doctorate degrees. Professors at community colleges may only have a master's degree while those at four year institutions are commonly required to hold a doctorate degree.[1]
Although the term "professor" is often used to refer to any college or university teacher, only a subset of college faculty are technically professors. These individuals (referred to as tenured/tenure-track faculty) typically begin their careers as assistant professors, with subsequent promotions to the ranks of associate professor and finally professor. College and university teachers who hold the rank of lecturer or instructor are not tenured/tenure-track faculty, and typically focus on teaching undergraduate courses, and are generally not involved in research, nor are they typically involved in department and university decision-making.
The rank of assistant professor generally is held for a probationary period of three to seven years, after which the individual must either earn tenure and promotion to associate professor or find other employment. As of 2007, 23.1% of academics held the rank of assistant professor.[9]
Competition for assistant professor positions in many fields is rapidly growing; the number of PhD graduates is rising, while the number of assistant professor openings remains roughly constant.[10] The opposite is true, however, in business disciplines, where the anticipated shortfall of business faculty may reach 2,400 openings by 2012.[11] The U.S. Occupation Outlook Handbook notes that a significant proportion of any growth in academic professor jobs will be due to "part-time and non tenure-track positions."[1] As of 2003, the average age at which scientists received tenure in the United States was 39.[12]
After several years at the rank of Assistant Professor, individuals are considered for a promotion and tenure. Tenure generally constitutes a lifetime employment agreement, and is generally thought of as a means of protecting faculty whose research may be socially, politically, or scientifically controversial. Rates for achieving tenure vary, depending on the institutions and areas of study; in most places at least 50% of assistant professors will eventually become tenured and promoted to associate professors; however, this number can be as low as 10% in natural sciences departments of top universities or in non-PhD-granting schools. In unusual circumstances, it is possible to receive tenure but to remain as an assistant professor, typically when tenure is awarded early.
Upon successfully receiving tenure, an assistant professor usually is promoted to the rank of associate professor. The mid-level position is usually awarded after a substantial record of scholarly accomplishment (such as the publication of one or more books, numerous research articles, receiving a large external research grant, successful teaching and/or service to the department[13]); however the specific requirements vary considerably between institutions and departments. As of 2007, 22.4% of academics hold the rank of associate professor.[9]
Alternatively, a person may be hired at the associate professor level without tenure (which is a typical practice at some universities, often done as a financial inducement to attract someone from outside the institution, but who might not yet meet all the qualifications for tenure). If an associate professor position is awarded to a non-tenured person, the position is usually tenure-track with an expectation that the person will soon qualify for tenure.
At some institutions, individuals are promoted to the rank of associate professor prior to receiving tenure. In these situations, the individual may eventually apply for tenure at that institution or, optionally, seek a tenured position elsewhere.
Upon a sustained and distinguished track record of scholarly achievement within one's university and academic discipline, an associate professor may be promoted to professor (sometimes referred to as "full professor"). In most traditional colleges and universities, this position is always tenured; however, this may not be the case in a for-profit private institution or certain church-related universities and colleges.
The rank of professor is the highest of the standard academic ranks in the United States, and is held by 29.5% of U.S. academics.[9] Advancement past the rank of Professor typically involves administrative duties (e.g., department chair, dean, or provost) or selection for an honorary title or endowed chair.
The absence of a mandatory retirement age contributes to "graying" of this occupation. The median age of American full professors is currently around 55 years. Very few people attain this position before the age of 40. The annual salary of full professors averages at $99,000, although less so at non-doctoral institutions, and more so at private doctoral institutions (not including side income from grants and consulting, which can be substantial in some fields); in addition, institutions in major cities or high cost of living areas will pay higher salaries [2]. Full professors earn on average about 70% more than assistant professors in the same institution. However, particularly in scientific and technical fields, this is still considerably less than salaries of those with comparable training and experience working in industry positions.
In addition to increasing salary, each promotional step also tends to come with increased administrative responsibilities. In some cases, these changes are offset by reduced teaching or research expectations.
A full professor who retires in good standing may be referred to as a professor emeritus, or professor emerita for women. This title is also given to retired professors who continue to teach and to be listed; they may also draw a very large percentage of their last salary as pension. The title may also be given to full professors who have left for another institution but are still working full time. The concept has in some places been expanded to include also tenured associate professors, or also non-tenure-track faculty. In some systems and institutions the rank is bestowed on all professors who have retired in good standing, while at others it needs a special act or vote. Depending on local circumstances, professors emeritus may retain office space or other privileges.
The word is typically used as a postpositional adjective ("professor emeritus") but can also be used as a preposition adjective ("emeritus professor"). There is a third, somewhat less common usage, following the full title (e.g.,"professor of medicine, emeritus".) In the United Kingdom, "emeritus professor" is the more common form.
These titles, often specific to one institution, generally are granted to the top few percent of the tenured faculty (and sometimes to under one percent, although at wealthy schools, such as Harvard Business School even close to half may hold such titles). Examples include generic titles such as President's Professor, University Professor, Regents' Professor, or more university-specific titles such as M.I.T.'s Institute Professor and Stanford University and Duke University's James B. Duke Professor.
Some academic and/or scholarly organizations may also bestow the title "distinguished professor" in recognition of achievement over the course of an academic career. For example, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture annually recognizes up to five faculty at architecture schools in the United States and Canada with the ACSA Distinguished Professor Award.[14]
A "named" or "endowed chair" is a full professor who is awarded a specific, endowed chair that has been sponsored by a fund, firm, person, etc. Named chairs are usually similar to the European model, in that they are a position rather than a career rank.
An individual affiliate with a college or university to teach for a limited time is sometimes referred to as a "visiting professor"; this may be someone who is a professor elsewhere, or a scholar or practitioner who is not. The term may also refer simply to terminal (usually 1 to 3 years) teaching appointments and/or post-doctorate research appointments (which are much like research internships). The professor in question could be a "Distinguished Visiting Professor."
"Lecturers" and "Instructors" in the US can work full-time or part-time, but in either case have less prestige than "Professors" except in rare hierarchies at certain institutions. They teach as their primary purpose, but they can also serve on academic committees. (Although the term "Professor" is not part of their formal title, the common-noun descriptor "professor" as well as prenominal form of address – e.g. "Professor Smith" – are both nevertheless commonly used for people in these positions, as there is little US precedent for using other terms in such contexts.) Since these positions are non-tenure track, they often do not involve a research or publishing requirement, although many of these professors do publish, research, and consult. While both terms are used quite variably in the US, those with the title of "Lecturer" tend to have comparatively greater advancement potential and typically must have a PhD or a terminal master's degree (i.e., MFA, etc.) as opposed to a regular master's degree (i.e., MA, MS, etc.).
An adjunct professor is a part-time professor who does not hold a permanent position at that particular academic institution. This may be someone with a job outside the academic institution teaching courses in a specialized field, or it may refer to persons hired to teach courses on a contractual basis (frequently renewable contracts). It is generally with a teaching load below the minimum required to earn benefits (health care, life insurance, etc.) although the number of courses taught can vary.
An adjunct is generally not required (or permitted) to participate in the administrative responsibilities at the institution expected of other full-time professors, nor do they generally have research responsibilities. The pay for these positions is usually minimal, even though adjuncts typically hold a PhD, requiring most adjuncts to hold concurrent positions at several institutions or in industry if seeking to make a living from it. Due to the considerably lower salaries of adjunct professors, many universities in North America have reduced hiring of tenure-track faculty in favor of recruiting more adjuncts (and/or Lecturers) on a contractual basis. "Contingent faculty" (non-tenure-track faculty) now make up more than half of all faculty positions in the United States.[15]
Adjuncts provide flexibility to the faculty, acting as additional teaching resources to be called up as necessary. However, their teaching load is variable: classes can be transferred from adjuncts to full-time professors, classes with low enrollment can be summarily canceled and the teaching schedule from one semester to the next can be unpredictable.
It is commonly thought that if the university makes a good faith offer to an adjunct professor of teaching during the following semester depending on enrollment, the adjunct generally cannot file for unemployment benefits during breaks. This varies from state to state. In California, as a result of the 1989 Cervisi decision, adjunct professors who do not have "reasonable assurance" of returning to work can receive unemployment compensation during breaks in employment. Virtually all appointment offers to adjunct professors are contingent upon meeting minimum enrollment, funding levels, or program continuation. The 1989 Cervisi decision confirmed that such contingent offers do not constitute "reasonable assurance" of reemployment as defined in state unemployment code.
In some cases, an adjunct may hold one of the standard ranks in another department, and be recognized with adjunct rank for making significant contributions to the department in question. Thus, e.g., one could be an "associate professor of physics and adjunct professor of chemistry."
In some universities, there are different ranks of adjunct faculty. For example, at the University of Iowa, the ranks are adjunct instructor, adjunct assistant professor, adjunct associate professor, and adjunct full professor; the University states that “the expectations at each rank are similar to those for the same rank on the tenure track”[16]
Hiring adjuncts was, a generation ago, done primarily to fill in courses that would add to an academic department's offerings; an example might be an IBM computer scientist coming into a university to teach a single course on mainframe computing. In this respect, it can also be a way to supplement the predominantly "theoretical" focus of traditional full-time academics with a more pragmatic "real world" perspective.
In the last twenty to thirty years, however, universities have increasingly utilized adjuncts (along with the trend towards hiring more full-time "Lecturers") to cover courses in fundamental undergraduate skills, such as beginning mathematics and freshman composition. Some English departments are now staffed by a majority of adjunct teachers. Various problems result from this expediency on the part of university administrations, such as a general reduction in research accomplished by the overall faculty, increased departmental administration duties spread among fewer full-time faculty, and a reduction in academic freedom due to adjuncts' generally precarious job security. It has also raised the competition among PhDs, especially in the humanities, to find tenure-track assistant professorships (see above), calling into question the existence and value of many PhD programs that produce graduates unable to find positions in their fields.
Adjunct pay in state and community colleges, including some private institutions on the East Coast hovers around $3,000–4,000 for a 3-credit hour course. To make a living wage, adjunct professors have to teach six or more classes a semester, preventing them from giving the preparation and one-on-one time with students necessary to ensure good teaching. ( However, this is mere speculation and is not verified by actual facts.) .
A professor who is primarily and originally associated with one academic department, but has become officially associated with a second department, institute, or program within the university and has assumed a professor's duty in that second department as well, could be called a "professor by courtesy." Example: "Dan Jurafsky is Professor of Linguistics and Professor by Courtesy of Computer Science at Stanford University". Usually, the second courtesy appointment carries with it fewer responsibilities and fewer benefits than a single full appointment (for example, affiliated professors rarely have voting rights in their courtesy department). Because affiliated professors are often listed following a partition in the catalog copy or web page for the department, they are often called "professors below the line" or "below the diamonds" or a similar phrase.
A professor who does not take on all of the classic duties of a professor, but instead focuses on research. At most universities, research professors are not eligible for tenure and must fund their salary entirely through research grants, with no regular salary commitment from internal university sources. In parallel with tenure-track faculty ranks, there are assistant and associate research professor positions.
These types of professors focus on teaching and supervising teaching assistants.
This is a title normally granted to those who have contributed significantly to the school and community (for example, by donation for furtherance of research and academic development), but may or may not have earned a PhD
Most professors are paid by a college or university on nine or ten month contracts. Salary data for professors is typically reported as a "9 month" salary, not including compensation received (often from research grants) during the summer. The overall median 9 month salary for all professors was $73,000, placing a slight majority of professors among the top 15% of earners at age 25 or older.[7] Yet, their salaries remain considerably below that of some other comparable professions (even when including summer compensation) such as lawyers (who earned a median of $110,000) and physicians (whose median earnings ranged from $137,000 to $322,000 depending on speciality).[17][18] According to the U.S. Department of Labor,
[Academic year] salaries for full-time faculty averaged $73,207. By rank, the average was $98,974 for professors, $69,911 for associate professors, $58,662 for assistant professors, $42,609 for instructors, and $48,289 for lecturers. Faculty in 4-year institutions earn higher salaries, on average, than do those in 2-year schools. In 2006–07, faculty salaries averaged $84,249 in private independent institutions, $71,362 in public institutions, and $66,118 in religiously affiliated private colleges and universities.[19]
Salaries varied widely by field and rank ranging from $45,927 for an assistant professor in theology to $136,634 for a full professor in "Legal Professions and Studies."[20] Another study by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found the average salary for all faculty members, including instructors, to be $66,407, placing half of all faculty members in the top 15.3% of income earners above the age of 25. Median salaries were $54,000 for assistant professors, $64,000 for associate professors and $86,000 for full professors 2005.[21] During the 2005–06 year, salaries for assistant professors ranged from $45,927 in theology to $81,005 in law. For associate professors, salaries ranged from $56,943 in theology to $98,530 in law, while salaries among full professors ranged from $68,214 in theology to $136,634 in law.[20] During the 2010–11 year, associate professor salaries vary from $59,593 in theology to $93,767 in law.[22] Full professors at elite institutions commonly enjoy six-figure incomes, such as $123,300 at UCLA or $148,500 at Stanford.[23] The CSU system, which is the largest system in the U.S. with over 11,000 faculty members, had an average full-time faculty salary of $74,000, scheduled to increase to $91,000 by 2011.[24] Professors in teacher education sometimes earn less than they would if they were still elementary classroom teachers. In one case study report, it was shown that a beginning full-time tenure-track assistant professor in elementary teacher education at California State University, Northridge was hired in 2002 at a salary of $53,000., which was $15,738. less than she would have earned in her previous position as a 9-month public school kindergarten teacher, ($68,738). See Gordon, L. M. (2004, January 6). From kindergarten teacher to college professor: A comparison chart of salaries, work load, and professional preparation requirements. Published proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on Education. ISSN# 1541-5880. Adjunct college instructors often make $20,000–$35,000/year, even while teaching at several institutions. However, adjunct college instructor salaries can range between $40,000 – $100,000/ year in states with higher costs of living. Adjunct instructors generally have to teach at several institutions to earn higher salaries.
| Rank | Lowest median[20] | Highest median[20] | Overall median[19] | Common range[20] | Common salary range in relation to labor force | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time, age 25+[25] | All earners age 25+[26] | |||||
| Assistant Professor | $45,927 | $81,005 | $58,662 | Low 50s – Low 60s | 70th to 75th percentile | 77th to 83rd percentile |
| Associate Professor | $56,943 | $98,530 | $69,911 | Low 60s – High 70s | 75th to 86th percentile | 83rd to 87th percentile |
| Full Professor | $68,214 | $136,634 | $98,974 | High 70s – Low 100s Mid 100s at Elite Universities |
86th to 91st percentile 96th percentile |
87th to 91st percentile 97th percentile |