University Professor?

Society Business and Career
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How do you become one?

I was thinking if I do a Masters or Double Masters relating to my field or do a Masters in Education, would that be enough to get me a job as a University Professor?

If you guys are University Professors or have any suggestions for me, please come forward.

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Re: University Professor?

Depends on where you wanna become a professor. If you want to become one in Pakistan then you'll have a better shot if you get a PhD as lots of PhDs are currently coming back to Pakistan. Secondly, if you have a good masters degree or a PhD then you can get the post of assistant professor initially. Then you will have to spend a couple of years to become associate professor and then a couple of years later you'd become full professor. I'd say a decade's journey from assistant professor to professor.

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Re: University Professor?

It doesn't really matter to me what kind of a professor I become. As long as I get to teach in a university. I am aiming for being a Professor in the US or UK. If not that then Dubai. I don't want to teach in Pakistan.

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Re: University Professor?

It depends what you want to teach. In US the competition is tough for full time faculty teaching positions. You have to have a Ph. D from some big name university.
To teach part time Master's degree from any accredited university is enough.

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Re: University Professor?

As indicated by snowy, there are various levels of professorship. Generally speaking, for a full-time long-term appointment at a recognized university, you will be required to have a terminal degree such as a Ph.D. / DBA / Ed.D etc. . After completing this requirement, if you're lucky (yes, there's a lot of competition), you may get a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor... a few years down the road, based on your performance in terms of research publications, teaching, and service, you can get tenured as an Associate Professor... and a few more years of hard work will get you to the Professor level. This is the general process in universities around the globe, although individual Universities may differ in their tenure granting procedures.

In addition to these appointments, universities often employ Adjunct Professors / Industry Professors from outside on a part-time or contract basis. These people typically have a master's degree (many still have a Ph.D.) and multiple years of work experience in their area of expertise. They are primarily hired to teach courses with an emphasis on practical skills.

Finally, many universities also employ Lecturers on a limited-term contract (sometimes renewable) basis. These people may be hired on the basis of a master's degree and some work experience in their area of expertise or prior teaching experiences. Also, some professionals such as lawyers and accountants take sabbaticals from their regular work to work at universities as lecturers for one or two years time.

With respect to the places you've highlighted, it would be much easier to find a Lecturer position in Dubai based on a Master's degree... your chances of finding such a position in the US or UK are fairly limited. I say this from experience since I've been working as a lecturer and assistant professor for the past six years, and this was only because I was in the process of completing my Ph.D. in the meanwhile. I have hardly seen faculty members who simply have a master's degree. Even the accountants and lawyers who are hired to teach have their professional designations (CA/CPA/LLB/JD etc.) with a master's degree.

Hope this information makes some sense. Fee free to fire off any other questions you might have. This discussion is kinda right up my alley.

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Re: University Professor?

Thanks Lucid, that is really helpful. I do intend to reach PhD status too. I was asking because I thought maybe I can teach somewhere and at the same time do my PhD too. You were my inspiration since I read your blog and have been following you from a long time. I believe you were teaching and working towards a PhD at the same time.

So Lucid, 2 diplomas, 2 degrees and 1 Masters degree in Education would be enough to get me an assistant or associate professor position? If all of the pieces of paper are with high graduating results and from nice institutions? I graduated summa cum laude with my Journalism degree 2 months ago. On my way to another summa cum laude degree.

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Re: University Professor?

With regards to your signature, i think you’re referring to the ESMOD fashion school, not Esmond.

Sorry, had to say that. I hate typos! :bummer:

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Re: University Professor?

Crap I knew something was out of order lol. I have become dumb after coming to Pakiland:/ let me rectify that! THANKS.

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Re: University Professor?

DW, irrespective of the number of diplomas and undergraduate degrees, with a master's degree, you'd probably be looking at a lecturer position. That's what most universities offer to faculty with a graduate degree. I would encourage you to get a couple of year's of teaching experience while/after the master's so that you can make up your mind about a Ph.D. That being said, also remember that a Ph.D. and subsequently a career in academia is highly focused on research as well, so if you can somehow get involved in empirical research projects with your faculty in the graduate program, that would give you a flavor for life as a professor as well.

Re: the teaching and pursuing a Ph.D. at the same time, I would really advise against it having been through it myself. If I had the resources to concentrate solely on my Ph.D. with the usual research assistanship positions, I would have opted for that route. Unfortunately, my circumstances didn't allow me to do so, and it was only as a last resort that I worked f-t while pursuing the Ph.D. , and that's why it took way longer than it should have.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

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Re: University Professor?

Thank you so much. Will keep your advice in mind.