Professors are educators and researchers employed by colleges and universities to teach undergraduate and graduate students while contributing original scholarship to their academic fields. Their responsibilities typically include designing and delivering lectures, mentoring students and graduate researchers, publishing peer-reviewed research, securing grant funding, and participating in departmental and institutional governance. Professors work across virtually every discipline, from the humanities and social sciences to engineering, medicine, and the natural sciences.
| Entry level | $62,000 |
| Median | $95,000 |
| Senior | $140,000 |
| Top 10% | $210,000 |
| Job growth | +6% |
| Professionals in the USA | 1.5 million |
| Typical hours/week | 50 hrs |
| Remote work share | 15% |
| Annual job openings | 82,000/yr |
| Demand | Moderate |
AI tools are transforming how professors prepare materials, grade assignments, and support research, but the core roles of mentoring, original research, and complex pedagogy remain deeply human. Generative AI is more likely to augment teaching efficiency than replace the professorial role itself, though institutions may reduce reliance on adjunct instructors for basic content delivery.
Automation exposure: Grading routine assignments, generating quizzes, summarizing literature, drafting lecture outlines, and answering common student questions can increasingly be automated or AI-assisted.
The human edge: Mentorship, original research insight, nuanced critical thinking, ethical judgment, live classroom engagement, and inspiring intellectual curiosity are difficult for AI to replicate.
Figures are estimates for exploration — verify current data with BLS.gov.