In this article let’s take a look at pros and cons of being a professor to understand whether being a professor is worth it or not.
If you are confused regarding whether you should become a professor or not then you should read this article till the end.
So without further ado let’s get started.
Pros and cons of being a professor
Pros of being a professor
Rewarding & satisfying career
One of the main advantages of being a professor is that it is a rewarding career and it has high job satisfaction.
It is because you get to teach the subject that you love most for example physics to the students and you can also study more about the subject you love by doing research and publish white papers by being a professor in the college.
Working on your research and publications means that you are seen as an expert in your field. And it can greatly enhance your reputation as a teacher in the eyes of your colleagues and your students.
And you can increase the interest and curiosity among students in that subject by using different teaching methods, you can help
your students get good grades and marks in the subject and above all you can give them the right foundation of the knowledge which can be useful in their career,
At the same time you can guide and become a mentor to your students to decide a career option for them and solve the problems of the students.
you can also learn new things from the students everyday regarding the way you think about your academic work and can be a source of inspiration.
As a teacher, you can work as an inspiration to many students and you can change the life of the students by helping them have a good attitude and character, and
According to a survey by business wire nearly half of the percentage of k-12 teachers were inspired by their childhood teachers to take up the profession &
79% of students say teachers supported them to think and run after their dreams, and for many students teachers were basically role models to them.
This clearly shows that there is a higher impact of a teacher on the life of a student, not just regarding teaching the subject but also in the overall life and building the right character, values, attitude, etc
Good salary
Another benefit of being a professor is that you can have a decent amount of salary.
For example if you are a professor in India then the average salary is around 1 lakh rupees per month and you should keep in mind that the average median monthly salary of Indian is around 16000 rupees per month.
In that context the average salary of a professor in India is definitely much better then large percentage of Indians.
And when it comes to America the average salary for a full professor is $102,402 USD. Associate professors earn an average of $79,654 and assistant professors average $69,206.
You should keep in mind that this is only the average salary and the salary of a professor will depend upon various external factors including the subject they teach, the college they work as a professor and their overall teaching experience.
More freedom
Another important benefit of being a professor is that you can have more freedom.
Professors have a tendency to have more freedom in many areas than professionals in enterprise due to the fact academia is greater about the concept than practical application.
And academia affords a lot of independence – professors at universities and institutes have more possibilities to design their personal research, to pick out their very own hours, and to focus their work.
Obviously as a teacher you can find jobs all across the world and apart from that you can visit many places and experience new cultures languages businesses food and many more because teaching is a global profession
Job Stability
Professors don’t usually begin out in stable, profitable positions, however, after working a few years as a professor and getting some experience & once you’ve got reached a tenured position, you may have correct job security.
For your kind information,
Residency is basically lifetime professional stability at a college. It ensures recognized teachers’ scholarly opportunity and the right to speak freely of discourse by safeguarding them from
being terminated regardless of how questionable or forward-thinking their exploration, distributions or thoughts are, it is additionally vital to know that only one out of five teachers and employees get tenured and the number is getting decreased consistently.
Most reasons for letting go of a tenured professor are due to personal performance. This can mean incompetence, immoral or personal conduct and negligence.
In some cases, tenured professors can be terminated due to a university’s extreme financial hardships or in a financial emergency,
The most common reason tenured professors get fired is due to immoral or personal conduct such as engaging in abuse, sexual harassment, fraud, or criminal activity.
The offense has to be one that is universally deemed unacceptable behavior. Academic research misconduct and plagiarism also fall into this category.
But in most cases, professors who get tenured enjoy a lot of job security and stability.
Future proof career
Another advantage of being a professor is that it is a future-proof career which means that it has a bright future and cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence.
It is expected that by 2030 more than 800 million jobs will get replaced by artificial intelligence & robots but AI cannot replace professors because
Human teachers will always be needed to manage the classroom environment and to give students the encouragement they need.
A large part of education for children is teaching them social-emotional skills as we have learned earlier that 83% of the students have increased their self-esteem and
confidence due to their teacher, While artificial intelligence programs have proven they can teach students to read or do math,
teaching social and emotional skills, solving the doubts of the students and being empathetic to them and guiding them in their career as a mentor is more complex. That kind of learning needs the human touch that only teachers can provide.
So you should not worry that the profession of teaching and being a professor is not going anywhere, it is also future proof option.
These are all the advantages of being a professor.
Cons of being a professor
Work load & pressure
As a professor you should expect long hours. hours do tend to be flexible for professors but however, it is still (too) frequently expected that professors will work both in the evenings and on the weekends.
In some cases, it can even be difficult for them to take the vacation days which they have earned, as there is just too much work, with deadlines making things additionally tricky.
In order to remain at the front of the profession, you will likely have to work many hours each week, and sacrifice time spent with family, friends, and pursuing your hobbies
It requires long years of education
Another disadvantages of being a professor is that it requires a long years of education.
Most Universities and colleges accept candidates who already have done PhD or at least Masters level of education and post-graduation in the specialised subject before they can become professor in the college and
start teaching the students which means that you will have to spend more than 6 years of time in education after completing your school before you can become professor.
Competition
One of the biggest issues with being a college professor is that because there are a large number of highly qualified academics competing for a small number of professorship jobs, they are highly competitive.
These are all the advantages and disadvantages of being a professor.
Is being a professor worth it?
After learning all the pros and cons in my opinion being a professor is definitely worth it for a few reasons like You can have a bigger impact & influence on the life of students as majority of the students role models are teachers,
you can have job security and good salary, and if you truly love teaching subjects and concepts to students, you also like to do research in your specific subject then you should definitely become a professor.
With that said let’s end the article.
Conclusion
These are all the things you need to know about the pros and cons of being a professor
Do comment down whether you like to be a professor or not in the comment section below.
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