OKcollegestart - Career Profile

Professor

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High School

What high school courses should you take if you're interested in this career? Get your answers from the Education and Training cluster Teaching/Training pathway.

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No single education program exists for professors. Professors have a doctorate in their chosen discipline. Doctorates are granted at universities that offer graduate studies in the discipline of choice.

Professors at four-year institutions are usually required to have a PhD. Professors at two-year institutions may have a master's degree. As competition gets stronger, people with master's degrees will find it harder to find tenure-track employment.

PhD programs typically require six to eight years of full-time study beyond the bachelor's level. Some disciplines take longer to complete than others, and doctoral candidates normally specialize in a subspecialty of the discipline.

Candidates must also complete a dissertation. That's a written report on original research that they conduct under the guidance of a faculty advisor. The dissertation may take two or more years. In certain fields, particularly the sciences, candidates may spend an additional two or more years doing post-doctoral research.

Astronomy professor Pauline Barmby says you don't need straight As to become a professor. At the same time, "The better you do in school, the easier it is [to become a professor]," she says. "You can make the road easier by doing well all the way through, but you don't rule yourself out [by not getting straight A's]," says Barmby. "You just have to work harder and find... more of an indirect way to where you're going."