How to Become a College Professor

Becoming a college professor requires the desire to continue education and learn the latest about a field. Connecting with students and keeping in touch with them is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a college professor. The process is intense, and one misstep can end a career, so staying focused and knowledgeable is imperative to remain in academia.

By Ciarra Maraj

Referring to a professor as a teacher can be offensive to some and antiquated to others. Teachers train to teach, and professors are experts in a specific area. Both are important, but the difference is clear.

“Some professors are good teachers, but not all professors are good teachers,” said Jim Martinez, Ph.D., an associate interdisciplinary studies professor.?

The different types of professors are adjunct, assistant, associate and full. Some are tenured. Adjunct professors are contractors not eligible for tenure. Assistant professors are entry-level tenure-track, and associate professors are mid-level tenured. Full professors are senior-level and sometimes become department chairs.?

How to Become a College Professor?

Becoming a professor requires continuous education and tests to pass. The graduate record examination (GRE) is used to admit students into master's and doctoral programs. From there, they complete a master’s degree program followed by a doctorate. After obtaining a master’s, and before pursuing a doctoral degree, students can become a professor to gain field experience.

This is what Marina Odierno did. She is a former adjunct communication professor and an “All But Dissertation” Ph.D. candidate.

For Odierno, being a professor was a marriage of skill set and desire to be in a field.

“I was able to continue to be in the communication field while exercising my teaching skills,” Odierno said.?

Martinez spent 16 years working in the STEM field as a systems integrator and IT consultant on Wall Street. He became a New York City Department of Education teacher before obtaining a Ph.D. and pivoting into higher education.

“I did that for a couple of years and realized I'm in my 40s, I'm way too old to be on the floor with these kids,” Martinez said.?

Becoming tenured requires substantial reviews and observations of a professor’s record – including how they teach and connect with students.

In addition to those reviews, professors are expected to continue field research, publish findings and engage in service learning. Any misstep or failure to become tenured results in dismissal.?

“You need to be willing to continually advance,” Odierno said. “It's not the type of profession where you could just get into and then do it for the next 25 years, 30 years…there's always a continuing piece.”?

Martinez suggests building a strong network and gaining experience before entering a doctoral program.?

“Your network of people [is] really critical to getting you over the hump and plugged into how to do a research grant, how to write a book, all the things that are necessary for being a professor,” Martinez said. “You need to have a network of people who've been there, done that, and believe in your work, and are willing to support you.

“...You have to start creating that network before you get into that academic program [because] those are the people who will write the letters of recommendation to you, to that academic program.”

Pros and Cons of Being a College Professor?

Despite the many obstacles required to become a professor, experts agree connecting with students is the most rewarding.

“My relationships with the students was by far the most enjoyable, fruitful part of being a professor as a whole,” Odierno said. “And, of course, maintaining those relationships with the students, watching students grow, especially when you get to watch them from like a freshman or a sophomore, continue into graduation, post-graduation, get jobs in their fields, get married, have kids do all those life things.”?

“After four years you see them graduate and they're ready to be out there in the world,” Martinez said. “And you have some little part to play in helping with that, and the only way I know that is because they thank me at graduation and they tell me that I [helped] them. And I think that that's a great way to live your life, is in service to others and helping people.”

Martinez did a community learning project when he chose to stay in higher education. He brought his undergraduate students to a school in Harlem and all parties were positively impacted – the college students, the elementary students, and their teachers.

“And I said, ‘This is really cool. If I can keep doing this for a while, that'd be a really great way to live my life,’” Martinez said.

Odierno knew being a professor was the job for her after her first class during her first year.?

“It's the energy. It is the environment, the culture, there's something so distinct about the culture of higher education,” Odierno said.??

Faculty meetings are Martinez’s least-favorite part about the job. Odierno’s is the politics that come with working in higher education.

Overall their best advice for aspiring professors is to gain outside experience and be open to learning.?

“What makes you a good professor is realizing that you don't know everything, so a willingness to learn alongside of your students will take you far in the field,” Odierno said.?

Top Takeaways?

How To Become A College Professor

• Becoming a professor takes work.?
• Experts agree connecting with students is the best part.
• Failure to pass exams in the process of becoming tenured results in dismissal.