15 College Professor
What is it Like Being a College Professor
On this episode of the Unboxing Careers Podcast, Greg Zakowicz unboxes the career of a college professor.
Guest: Dr. Jason Freeman is an associate professor of sociology at Towson University and the assistant chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice. His research explores the interplay of religion and biology across the life course with a focus on the relationship between religion and substance use. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. degree in sociology and a B.A. in sociology from East Carolina University.
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What Does a Sociology Professor in Higher Education Actually Do?
When most students picture a professor, they imagine someone walking into a classroom, lecturing for an hour, and then disappearing until the next class. The real job is more layered. Teaching is the most visible part, but the work week also includes advising students, preparing lectures, responding to email, coordinating with department leadership, and managing research projects.
At a teaching-focused university, much of your identity is built around the classroom. Students know you, stop by your office, and ask for advice about both school and life decisions. The rhythm of the job is shaped by semesters. During the academic year, your schedule revolves around teaching and student contact. During breaks and summer months, the focus often shifts to research, writing, and course development.
If you choose this career, the experience is not simply about delivering information. It is a mix of teaching, mentoring, administration, and long periods of independent preparation.
Typical responsibilities of a college professor include:
Teaching multiple sociology courses each semester
Preparing lectures, slides, and discussion material
Holding office hours for student meetings
Advising students about course planning and career decisions
Answering student emails and grading assignments
Participating in department meetings or leadership roles
Conducting research and writing academic articles
How Do You Become a Sociology Professor?
The path into this career is long compared with many other professions. Most professors begin with an undergraduate degree in sociology or a related field. From there, the training usually continues through graduate school, first earning a master's degree and eventually a PhD.
Graduate school is where the profession really begins to take shape. Doctoral students spend years reading research, taking advanced seminars, teaching classes, and learning how to conduct their own studies. The final stage is the dissertation, a large research project that can take several years to complete. Only after finishing the PhD do most candidates begin applying for tenure-track professor jobs.
The timeline matters because it means choosing this career requires a long commitment to education and specialization. Many people in this field spend most of their twenties in graduate school before securing a full-time faculty position.
A typical training path for a college professor looks like:
Undergraduate degree in sociology or a related field
Graduate school for a master’s degree
PhD program focused on research and teaching experience
Dissertation research and writing
National job search for tenure-track professor positions
What Does a Sociology Professor's Weekly Schedule Actually Look Like?
A professor's weekly calendar is structured around teaching days. At many universities, faculty members group their classes into a few days of the week. For example, someone might teach three courses on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while reserving other days for advising, research, or administrative work.
Teaching days tend to be busy. You may arrive on campus in the morning, teach several classes throughout the day, and meet with students between lectures. Office hours give students a dedicated time to ask questions about assignments, career plans, or personal concerns.
Non-teaching days look different but are still full workdays. Those hours often go toward advising meetings, departmental responsibilities, grading, and preparing for upcoming lectures.
A typical semester week might include:
Teaching two to three class sessions per course
Holding office hours for scheduled student meetings
Advising students on degree requirements
Responding to student emails and course questions
Grading assignments and exams
Attending department meetings
Preparing lectures and updating course materials
What Operational Work Happens Behind the Scenes?
Students usually see professors during lectures, but much of the job happens outside the classroom. Preparing for class requires organizing notes, reviewing readings, updating slides, and thinking about how to explain complex ideas clearly. Even experienced professors still rely on structured notes and outlines while teaching.
Another large part of the job is advising students. This involves helping students select courses, think through academic goals, and sometimes discuss career possibilities. Many of these conversations happen in office hours or informal meetings throughout the semester.
Administrative roles can add another layer of responsibility. For example, someone serving as an assistant department chair may help manage advising systems, coordinate schedules, or handle issues that arise within the department.
Daily operational tasks often include:
Reviewing course readings and preparing lecture notes
Updating syllabi and assignment instructions
Meeting with students during office hours
Advising students about course schedules
Responding to departmental questions or paperwork
Coordinating with department leadership
What Does Research Look Like for a Sociology Professor?
Research is still an important part of the profession, even at teaching-focused universities. The difference is when and how it happens. Instead of working on research every day during the semester, many teaching-focused faculty members concentrate their research efforts during breaks or summer months.
Research projects often begin with data. A professor might work with existing datasets, clean and organize the information, and begin exploring relationships between variables. In this case, the research examined connections between religion and health outcomes.
After analysis comes writing. Turning research findings into a publishable article requires drafting, revising, submitting the paper to journals, and responding to peer review feedback. The full cycle can take months or even years.
The research process often includes:
Identifying a research question
Working with datasets and cleaning data
Developing hypotheses
Running statistical analyses
Writing journal articles
Submitting research for peer review
What Are the Emotional Realities of Being a College Professor?
Many people assume a professor's job revolves around lectures and grading. In reality, students often bring serious life issues into faculty offices. Professors may hear about mental health struggles, family problems, relationship challenges, or traumatic events students are dealing with while trying to stay in school.
Handling these conversations can be emotionally demanding, especially early in a career. Professors are not trained therapists, but they often serve as trusted adults students turn to when something goes wrong. Universities usually provide systems to help faculty refer students to appropriate support services.
These moments can also be some of the most meaningful parts of the job. Helping a student navigate a difficult semester or stay on track toward graduation can leave a lasting impact on both the student and the professor.
Situations professors may encounter include:
Students struggling with mental health challenges
Family or financial stress affecting academic performance
Relationship problems or breakups
Domestic violence situations
Sexual assault disclosures
Students unsure whether they can stay enrolled
What Is the Most Rewarding Part of the Job?
For many professors, the most rewarding moments come from seeing students grow over time. A student who begins a course uncertain or disengaged may gradually become more confident, more curious, and more capable of analyzing the world around them.
Sometimes the reward comes years later. Graduates may send messages thanking a professor who helped them during a difficult time or encouraged them to pursue a new direction. Many professors keep these notes as reminders that their work mattered.
The job does not always provide immediate recognition, but it often offers quiet confirmation that the work made a difference in someone's life.
Meaningful moments in the career often include:
Watching students gain confidence in their ideas
Seeing struggling students graduate
Receiving thank-you notes from former students
Hearing how a class influenced a student's career path
Knowing your guidance helped someone stay in school
Closing Perspective on the Sociology Professor Career
Choosing a career as a sociology professor means choosing a life built around teaching, preparation, and long-term intellectual work. Your weeks will revolve around classes, student conversations, and the quiet preparation required to explain ideas clearly. Over time, the job expands beyond lectures into advising, departmental responsibilities, and research projects that unfold across months or years. The role can be flexible and deeply meaningful, especially for people who enjoy guiding students and watching them grow. But it also requires patience with long training paths, emotional awareness when supporting students, and comfort working independently.
For students considering academia, the key question is not simply whether you like sociology. It is whether you want your professional life to revolve around teaching, mentoring, and steadily building expertise in a single field.
Sociology Professor Career FAQs
Do you need a PhD to become a sociology professor?
For the tenure-track path described in this episode, yes, the PhD was the credential that opened the door to a full professor role with higher pay and the possibility of tenure. A master's degree can still qualify someone for some higher education teaching roles, such as community college teaching or non-tenure-track instructor positions, but it does not lead to the same version of the job.
What does a sociology professor's week actually look like?
A typical week can include teaching multiple classes across several days, holding office hours, answering emails, advising students, and handling department responsibilities. At a teaching-focused university, research may happen more heavily during summer or winter break, while the semester itself revolves more around classroom teaching and student support.
Is being a college professor mostly about teaching or research?
It depends on the institution. In this transcript, the role is teaching-centered, which means class instruction and student interaction are the heart of the job. At research-heavy universities, publishing, grants, and research output may take up much more of the workload. Students considering this career should figure out which version fits them better.
What is the hardest part of being a college professor?
One of the hardest parts can be the emotional side of student support. Students may come forward with mental health struggles, family problems, or even crisis situations, and professors are often one of the first people they trust. That makes the job more emotionally demanding than many people expect when they first imagine teaching college.
What is the most rewarding part of a sociology professor's career?
The most rewarding part described here is helping students succeed and seeing the impact over time. That may mean helping a student get through a difficult semester, answering career questions, or receiving a note from a student who felt supported. The reward often comes from watching students grow, not just from academic status or titles.
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