How To Become A Faculty Member: What It Is and Career Path

What is a faculty member and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Karina Skvirsky

A faculty member, also referred to as a professor, provides instruction to students on either academic or vocational subjects. Their primary job duties are to develop lesson plans, deliver lessons through classroom instruction or practical activities, assess students' learning, and provide students with necessary assistance or guidance when necessary.

The tasks of a faculty member also involve collaborating with other members of the faculty, managing student records, and writing recommendations for students. Apart from educating students, faculty members also expand their own knowledge by conducting research, attending conferences, and reading materials on their own time.

In most colleges or universities, faculty members have a master's degree or doctorate in their respective fields. They must also have a license to teach and appropriate classroom training before becoming a fully-fledged faculty member or professor. Experience in teaching is not a typical requirement for entry-level jobs but is a great advantage.

Apart from these formal requirements, a faculty member must have excellent skills in teaching, classroom management, communication, time management, and collaboration. Moreover, they must have the passion to educate young minds, as well as the patience to teach a large group of students on a daily basis.

On average, the salary of a faculty member is $82,000 per year. Faculty members can increase their earning potential with higher experience and level of education.

What general advice would you give to a Faculty Member?

Karina Skvirsky

Associate Professor, Lafayette College

Don't worry if you don't yet know what you want to be when "you grow up." Allow yourself to try different jobs to figure it out.

ScoreFaculty MemberUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $102,849

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.8

Growth Rate 12%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 12.71%

Black or African American 7.03%

Hispanic or Latino 10.03%

Unknown 4.91%

White 65.03%

Gender

female 48.99%

male 51.01%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress Level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.9

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.0

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a faculty member

Explore faculty member education requirements

Most common faculty member degrees

Bachelor's

52.1 %

Master's

26.8 %

Doctorate

11.7 %

Start to develop specific faculty member skills

Skills	Percentages
Public Health	14.77%
Mathematics	10.65%
Curriculum Development	10.20%
Professional Development	6.11%
PowerPoint	5.92%

Complete relevant faculty member training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New faculty members learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a faculty member based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real faculty member resumes.

Research faculty member duties and responsibilities

Lead instruction in non-credit ESL self-enrichment conversation courses (as needed).
Develop and manage syllabus materials.
Update the course curriculum for economics and drama to encompass a wider array of topics.
Develop and teach college courses in ethics, philosophy, sociology, religion and international affairs.

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