How To Become A Sociology Professor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a sociology professor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Alex Holte PhD

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a sociology professor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.89 an hour? That's $87,129 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 159,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a sociology professor?

Alex Holte PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychology, Website

My advice for someone new to the field of academia is to learn time management skills early and learn what type of service work you find interesting and would like to contribute to. From there, learn how to say “no” to opportunities that may not align with your goals as well. I feel a lot of new professors tend to find the need to be involved in everything, which can result in burning out later in their career.

ScoreSociology ProfessorUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $87,129

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.5

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.35%

Black or African American 6.97%

Hispanic or Latino 9.95%

Unknown 4.90%

White 66.55%

Gender

female 49.59%

male 50.41%

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

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a sociology professor

Explore sociology professor education requirements

Most common sociology professor degrees

Bachelor's

46.4 %

Master's

40.0 %

Doctorate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific sociology professor skills

Skills	Percentages
Student Learning	21.04%
Classroom Environment	20.27%
Course Objectives	19.51%
Syllabus	18.07%
Teach Sociology	11.83%

Research sociology professor duties and responsibilities

Lead outreach to community and statewide stakeholders in the PPCC entrepreneurship program.
Facilitate instruction for developing the thesis topic statement, qualitative and quantitative research design, and conducting a review of literature.
Double tutoring windows to improve student participation.

Get sociology professor experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a sociology professor. The most common roles before becoming a sociology professor include professor, director team lead and instructor.

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