Associate Vs. Assistant Professor | Main Differences

Associate Vs. Assistant Professor

In any academic sector, an associate professor in the second or third position in a university while an assistant professor in the below position it. We will discuss Associate Vs. Assistant Professor here. The associate professor is a mid-level job, and the assistant professor is just an entry-level job in a university. An associate professor is a rank above an assistant professor, so it’s the first promotion stage for an assistant professor in the United States, the assistant professor in the first position in the academic faculty. After 7 years of the long teaching profession, they get a promotion to become an associate professor. 

Associate Vs. Assistant Professor

We’ve already known that Associate professor is the rank between Professor and assistant professor. Assistant professor is the starting position in a university faculty or a college. So, an assistant professor must have a doctoral degree in a relevant subject. After completing graduation from a university, anyone can apply for the position of assistant professor. On the other hand, one has to work for 7 years to get promoted to the rank of an associate professor. 

How to become an Assistant professor?

Assistant professor is a challenging job in the academic sector. If anyone wants to become an assistant professor, he must have to complete his graduation in a subject, and some of the subjects are:

  • Mathematics 
  • Science
  • Human resource
  • Social Science
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Business studies
  • Economy
  • Political science
  • History, etc. 

How to become an Associate professor?

We inform before that associate professor in the above rank of assistant professor. So, if anyone wants to become an associate professor, first he should follow the steps of becoming an assistant professor. Then he can jump over the next step, in the United States, North America, and in many other countries, the associate professor in the post between professor and assistant professor.

Is there a need for any Ph.D. to become an assistant professor?

It’s important to have a Ph.D. to become an assistant professor, and it also needs to obtain a good academic result of undergraduate and graduate degree. Actually, Ph. D is the best qualification to become an assistant professor. When anyone wants to make his career as an assistant professor, he needs to earn a Ph. D. along with graduation. It’s not mean that his study life is over. He or she should publish at least 5 journals, articles, or books related to his subjects.

Is there a need for any Ph.D. to become an associate professor?

As an associate professor in the post above assistant professor, it is must have a Ph. D. If anyone wants to take himself or herself to the position of an associate professor, he or she needs to fulfill all the requirement of an assistant professor along with the Ph. D.  Also one has published journals, research articles or books. If an assistant professor assists a renowned professor in his or her faculty, it’ll add an extra benefit for him/her.

What is the function of an assistant professor?

An assistant professor is an entry-level job in an academy. Along with the teaching profession, he also assists the professor of his faculty. He writes a proposal for different research funding, gives suggestions to faculty meetings, recruits other staff, trained them, and answered different questions to the students through email or phone.

The main responsibilities of an assistant professor can be divided into three categories and they are:

  • Teaching, 
  • Research, 
  • Institutional duties. 

Here’s a short idea about it.

What types of teaching do assistant professors can provide?

Usually, most of the assistant professors teach two graduate or undergraduate courses per semester. Though the university or colleges try to fix the time of teaching in a year, it actually depends on the subjects and the curriculum system. We can see that at colleges and universities where assistant professors teach four courses per semester, they taught on a fixed topic or a fixed curriculum or syllabus. But they can’t make or fix a curriculum, provide teaching materials to students, or research assistants. They may assist in doing these works. 

What is assistant professors’ research?

Actually, the research area of an assistant professor depends on his subject. They are assists to teach or conduct research. But nowadays, most universities expect that their assistant professor should hurry and be determined to research and published them in journals or books cause it’ll be the reflection of the work and study areas of the university.  Sometimes it’s so hard to finish the work with students by keeping a schedule. 

What are the institutional duties of an assistant professor?

  • As assistant professors, they need to do some works that are not for their teaching profession. It’s like some voluntary works. It may usually start after one year of their career. Some of them are:
  • assists the full professor,
  • Guide and supervised graduates,
  • Spend time to conduct investigations and studies,
  • Advise students and some student organizations, 
  • serve on academic and administrative committees, 
  • organize lecture series according to their subjects and conferences,
  • Take on different part-time administrative roles, etc. 

These are called institutional duties that all professors are required to do.

What is the function of an associate professor?

Just like the assistant professor, the main function of an associate professor can be divided into three parts and they are:

  • Teaching, 
  • Research, 
  • Institutional duties 

Though it seems like, there have some differences, too. Here they are:

What types of teaching do associate professors can provide?

Associate professors taught in colleges or universities at a higher stage. Actually, they teach in a specific field where they have advanced degrees or knowledge. They are developing the course material and provide them to the students, Supervising and monitoring the graduate students and assistants. They also assist and recruits new lecturers, assistant professors,s and teaching assistants.

What is associate professors’ research?

An associate professor doesn’t need to assists but he can conduct research, publishing papers, and writing proposal to secure research funding. 

What are the institutional duties of an associate professor?

  • Along with the academic profession, an associate professor need to work in other fields like:
  • Have the organized guest seminars and faulty events.
  • Participating in department and faculty meetings.
  • Attending different academic events and networking with other researchers and experts.
  • Attending committees meeting for curricula development and overseeing safety workplace, etc. 

How much does an assistant professor earn?

Earning amount is different according to the field of study, university, and college. An assistant professor may earn  $70,791. Usually, in the United States, an assistant professor may earn $94,395 per year. 

How much does an associate professor earn?

An associate professor may earn  $81,274 in salary on average. In the United States, an associate professor may earn an average salary of $109,005 per year or $52.41 per hour. Whether it’s about an assistant professor about an associate professor, it’s difficult to reach that position because it needs a hard work of studies and has a passion for this career. It’s not just a career. It’s also a service to the nation to make it a more developed country. So, we all should respect this profession and its related persons.

Also read Reverend vs. Pastor – Major Differences Between Reverend and Pastor

Associate Vs. Assistant Professor | Main Differences

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