Over the years, teaching has emerged to be one of the most lucrative professions in the United States of America. Even during the time of recession, the teaching profession provided ample career opportunities to deserving candidates. According to job market experts, an assistant professor's salary grows steadily over the years due to the growing demand for their skills. Along with good salary, job security and respect are other factors that attract people to this profession. Before we come to the assistant professor salary, let us discuss the nature of job of an assistant professor.
Assistant Professor Job Description
As the name suggests, the duty of an assistant professor is to assist the main professor in teaching work. Generally, if you want to enter the teaching field, you will be recruited as an assistant professor, before you gain the required experience to become a senior professor. Assistant professors shoulder the responsibility of conducting classes and teaching relevant subjects to their students. They help the professors to prepare curriculum and also develop teaching strategies to help students grasp the subject matter easily. Assistant professors work closely with the students and solve all their difficulties by adopting innovative methods of teaching. Assistant professors are also responsible for doing administration-related tasks in their concerned departments. They report their daily work to senior professors and attend meetings, training and counseling sessions conducted for them. An assistant professor has to initially complete a probationary period before he is made permanent in his service. The duration of this probation period can vary from one educational institute to another, though many institutes have a probationary period of three years.
In order to be an assistant professor, it is essential to get a doctorate degree in the subject you want to teach. Good communication skills, interpersonal skills, patience, confidence, enthusiasm, hard work and keen interest in teaching are also the pre-requisites for becoming an assistant professor. Let us now move to the assistant professor salary range.
Assistant Professor Salary Details
The assistant professor salary range mainly depends on the educational qualifications, kind of employer, number of years of practical experience, location of job and skills of the candidate. Average assistant professor salary is in the range of USD 60,000 to USD 70,000 per year, as per several job market surveys. However, median salary for assistant professors was found to be around USD 64,000 per year. Visiting assistant professors can expect to earn around USD 45,000 to USD 49,000 per year, whereas research assistant professors can earn around USD 52,000 per year. The salaries for assistant professors are quite less as compared to the senior professors. However, with consistent efforts and growing experience, the salaries are expected to get better. Pay packages for assistant professors also depend on the subject they teach. Assistant professors teaching main subjects like English earn around USD 60,000 per year.
Assistant professor salary for those having an experience of around five years can be in the range of USD 55,000 to USD 65,000 per year. With about seven years of experience, this figure can go up to USD 75,000 per year. Those working in large metropolitan cities for renowned private institutes earn far more than those working in small cities.
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