Assistant Professor is an
academic rank
Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia.
The academic rank ...
just below the rank of an
associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Overview
This position is generally taken after earning a
doctoral degree
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
and generally after several years of holding one or more Postdoctoral Researcher positions. It is below the position of
Associate Professor at most universities and is equivalent to the rank of
Lecturer at most Commonwealth universities. In the United States, Assistant Professor is often the first position held in a
tenure track
Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...
, although it can also be a non-tenure track position. A typical professorship sequence is Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Full Professor in order. After 7 years, if successful, Assistant Professors can get tenure and also get promotion to Associate Professor.
There is high demand for vacant tenure-track Assistant Professor positions, often with hundreds of applicants. Less than 20% of doctoral graduates move onto a tenure-track Assistant Professor position after graduation.
Comparison
The table presents a broad overview of the traditional main systems, but there are universities which use a combination of those systems or other titles. Some universities in Commonwealth countries have also entirely adopted the North American system in place of the Commonwealth system.
See also
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Academic ranks in Canada
Academic ranks in Canada are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Faculty
In Canada, a distinction is generally made between college- and university-level higher educa ...
References
{{academic ranks overview
Academic ranks