University Lecturer / Professor
🎓Gives lectures and seminars, supervises dissertations, and does research and publishes papers alongside teaching.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $99.8k a year on average
Postsecondary teachers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £53k median a year · 186,000 jobs
Higher education teaching professionals — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI speeds up course prep and marking and online courses will cut some posts, but research mentoring stays with people.
Who it suits
Interests: 📖 Teaching and mentoring, ✍️ Writing and literature, 📐 Maths and data, 🏛️ History, society, politics.
Key strengths: speaking and writing, logic, attention to detail.
Where to study
- Bachelor's Bachelor's degree in your field
- Master's Master's (MA / MSc / MRes)
- PhD PhD (3–4 years in the UK/EU, 5–6 in the US), then postdoctoral posts
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, English Literature.
🧗 A bachelor's and master's in your field, a PhD (3–4 years in the UK/EU, 5–6 in the US), then 1–2 postdocs to publish. Permanent lectureships and tenure-track posts are highly competitive.
Things to know
🎤 Public speaking, being on camera📚 Studying 6+ years
Similar careers
Not sure what to choose?
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Take the quiz →Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.