Beyond time in front of a classroom, the role splits across preparing lectures and materials, grading and giving feedback on student work, and advising students on coursework or research directions. Depending on the institution, faculty also produce scholarship or maintain a professional practice in their field, plus take on committee work and departmental governance that shapes their say in curriculum and hiring decisions. Career progression usually runs from untenured or adjunct positions toward tenure-track and eventually full professorships, with research output often driving how quickly that happens.
Pros
Pay can reach up to $161k at the high end, well above many teaching roles
Considerable flexibility in structuring research, advising, and committee time outside class hours
Substantial independent judgment over course content and real one-on-one contact with students
Cons
Above-average hours, often more than a standard 40-hour week
Slower than average projected job growth over the next decade
Career advancement often depends on research output and publishing, adding pressure beyond teaching
A typical day
A 10am seminar in the professor's specialty opens the teaching day — twenty students, a discussion that has to be steered without being smothered — followed by office hours where one student needs a recommendation letter and another is quietly failing. Lunch is eaten over grading. The afternoon belongs to the discipline itself: reading new work in the field, preparing next week's lectures, and pushing a research project or creative work forward, since most college teaching posts expect scholarship alongside instruction. Committee meetings — curriculum, admissions, hiring — claim their share, and evenings often go to grading the stack that never quite empties.
Tasks at the job
Prepare and deliver lectures, seminars, or lab sessions in a specialized subject area.
Develop syllabi, assignments, and exams aligned with course and program learning goals.
Grade student work and provide feedback on assignments, papers, or projects.
Advise students on coursework, research, or career paths within the discipline.
Conduct research, publish scholarship, or maintain professional practice in the field, depending on the institution.
Serve on academic committees and participate in departmental or institutional governance.
Workplace & working conditions
This title covers college and university faculty in specialties not broken out into their own O*NET category -- work happens indoors, split between classrooms or labs and an office for prep, grading, and research.
Teaching schedules are structured around class meeting times, but research, advising, and committee work give considerable flexibility in how the rest of the week is organized. Expect significant independent judgment in course content and substantial one-on-one contact with students outside of class.
Education necessary or common
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Common college majors
The discipline you intend to teachEducation (secondary interest)Any field leading to a master's or PhD
Career path
Adjunct Instructor→
Assistant Professor→
Associate Professor→
Professor→
Department Chair
Courses to take
AP courses in the subject you'd want to teach — depth in your field starts now
AP English Language — academic life runs on writing
AP Statistics — research literacy in nearly every discipline
A foreign language — required for some graduate programs
Any course with a research paper — the core skill of graduate school
Clubs, activities & competitions
Academic clubs and competitions in your target subject (Science Olympiad, math team, debate)
Tutoring younger students — teaching is a skill you can start building now
Summer research or enrichment programs at local colleges
School newspaper or literary magazine
First steps you can take now
Email a professor in a field you love and ask what their week actually looks like
Tutor someone in your best subject this month and notice what explaining well requires
Look up what a PhD in your field involves: years, funding, and the academic job market
Sit in on a college lecture — many universities allow visitors