April 15, 2006
College Professor: The Second Best Job in America?
On cable news this morning, I caught a special report from CNN/Money Magazine on the "Best Jobs in America." And while I expected to see something like "software engineer" come in first place, I was very surprised to find "college professor" ranked 2nd in the nation, for "best job"!
What's interesting about the report is that they don't just look at salary. In terms of rating our job elements, college profs get "A's" for flexibility and creativity, but lower grades for stress-level and ease-of-entry.
What's cool: Professors have near-total flexibility in their schedules. Creative thinking is the coin of the realm. No dress code!What's not: The tick-tick-tick of the tenure clock; grading papers; salaries at the low end are indeed low.
Obviousness. But look at the stats and see if they match your own experience. In their report, Money gives the job an average salary of 81,500, and notes a 10-year growth in the occupation at 31%. They claim that there are 95,300 annual job openings for college profs.
While the retirement of some late baby boom faculty may account for some of the surges indicated here, there are radical differences in job availability based on field of specialization and salary variables based on the cost of living and the school finances in the campus where a faculty member works. When they talked about this on-air, the commentators lauded the job, but were also full of the usual wise cracks, jealous snarkiness, and ungrounded assumptions about college teaching. "Summer's off!" and "Students at your beck and call...Get a TA to grade all your papers and you're set!" and all the usual presumptions about the real work we perform both on campus and off as academics. The correspondent from Money magazine noted that there is a low-entry level for profs, but if they stay in for the long haul -- tenure, promotion, advancement to dean or president, work in consulting -- they get solid benefits (and this is true, but he lost me when he mentioned that "some professors get up to half-a-million dollars a year!" Yeah, some.)
Seeing a report like this makes me appreciate my job and happy that there are some positive messages out there that might make education more attractive to those who are on the market. But I also have become jaded regarding hyperbolic claims about how easy professors have it, and to see some of the myths broadcast and reinforced by the mass media once again only makes me wish someone would do a special report on the reality of the profession. (I suppose the edublogosphere is a potential counter-voice to all this, but I'm not sure it has the same cultural power.)
See also: The Truth About Tenure from the NEA and the Chronicle's searchable AAUP Faculty Salary Survey for a reality check.
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Comments
I don't know if it is right but i think if the professors were better paid - they would be more anthusiastic about their work. Teaching wihtout a doubt is a gift and not everyone possesses it. As for me teachers ( professors)are of two kinds those who know a lot, but fail to convey their knowledge to their students, as they are more concentrated on their self development or just have no innate ability to do it. The other category is quite the opposite. My dearest teacher from school belonged to this category. What she did to me was much more than just filling and stuffing me with knowledge, she constantly keep me stimulated, motivated and maintained the continuous desire to discover more and more about the subjetc. To obtain knowledge now is not a proiblem with a great variety of available literature and resources, you just find what you need and get acquainted with it, that's all. But to make you search for this literature and make youwant to find out something new is the task of a teacher. Well, I am getting too philosophical, I am afraid Most tutors I meet at college are somewhat distant and indifferent people. I am not complaining , I know that all of us are not perfect and take what they give to you. Every person we meet in our life is meant to teach us smth, observe their negative and positive features and make your own conclusions.
I have to agree with the last comment completely.
I am currently an English major at Miami University in Oxford, OH. My favorite professors are those who keep the class engaged throughout the whole class period. My English Literature prof and my Poetry professor are my favorites, for they take different approaches at teaching the class. Today for Halloween my Literature prof. made a whole comic book on the importance of "THE THESIS" with the wording in middle english and the characters related somewhat to Lord of the Rings. He hand drew the whole thing himself, and it was interesting, funny, and a nice change of pace for the class. This type of dedication is exactly what professors today must posses. When I saw the article on CNNmoney.com I also couldn't believe that College Professor was rated #2! I was excited to say the least, because that is my passion. I want to be some sort of English professor! I agree that if teachers' salaries were higher up on the money scale, maybe they would try harder to make class interesting, and engage their students fully. Not only that, but students would want to take their class due to hear-say and "rate your professor".com. Students would walk away wanting to learn more, and do it on their own time.
You are correct when you say that this is one of the best jobs EVER. I love it as I have never loved a teaching gig before. I will have to add, though, that these days, it's very difficult to get a full-time teaching job in a college. I have a full teaching load but am classified and paid as an adjunct, with no benefits, no office, nothing. I do not mind that my schedule is totally inflexible, and I am used to large class sizes, but it would be nice to be rated and paid as full-time, since that's what I'm doing.