Career profile Sociology Professor

Table of Contents

• What does a Sociology Professor do?
• What is a typical salary for a Sociology Professor?
• What personality traits are common among Sociology Professors?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Sociology Professors need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Sociology Professor do?

Sociology Professors teach courses in sociology.

In addition, Sociology Professors includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

What kind of tasks does a Sociology Professor perform regularly?

Sociology Professors are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, papers, and oral presentations.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Compile, administer, and grade examinations or assign this work to others.
• Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
• Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, or handouts.
• Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, giving presentations at conferences, and serving on committees in professional associations.
• Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in scholarly journals, books, or electronic media.
• Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
• Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
• Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
• Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
• Advise students on academic and vocational curricula, and on career issues.
• Supervise students' laboratory and field work.
• Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and performance pieces.
• Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
• Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
• Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.
• Write grant proposals to procure external research funding and review others' grant proposals.
• Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
• Mentor new faculty.

The above responsibilities are specific to Sociology Professors. More generally, Sociology Professors are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Sociology Professor salary?

What personality traits are common among Sociology Professors?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Sociology Professor are usually higher in their Social, Investigative, and Artistic interests.

Sociology Professors typically have very strong Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Also, Sociology Professors typically have strong Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Lastly, Sociology Professors typically have moderate Artistic interests. Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Sociology Professor tend to value Achievement, Independence, and Recognition.

Most importantly, Sociology Professors strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, Sociology Professors strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Sociology Professors strongly value Recognition. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Sociology Professors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as integrity, dependability, and analytical thinking.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Sociology Professors, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Sociology Professors need?

Many Sociology Professors have earned a graduate degree. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a doctoral degree, such as a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D..

Sociology Professors may need some on-the-job training, but most candidates will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Educational degrees among Sociology Professors

• 0.6% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 1.4% completed high school or secondary school
• 2.0% completed some college coursework
• 1.8% earned a Associate's degree
• 14.6% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 32.1% earned a Master's degree
• 47.4% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Sociology Professors

Important Abilities needed by Sociology Professors

Sociology Professors must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Sociology Professors need abilities such as oral expression, oral comprehension, and written comprehension in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Sociology Professors, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Sociology Professors

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Sociology Professors frequently use skills like speaking, reading comprehension, and active listening to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Sociology Professors, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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