Career profile for Agricultural Sciences Professor

What does an Agricultural Sciences Professor do?

Agricultural Sciences Professors teach courses in the agricultural sciences.

In addition, Agricultural Sciences Professors

includes teachers of agronomy, dairy sciences, fisheries management, horticultural sciences, poultry sciences, range management, and agricultural soil conservation,
includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

What kind of tasks does an Agricultural Sciences Professor perform regularly?

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

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.
Advise students on academic and vocational curricula, and on career issues.
Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
Supervise laboratory sessions and field work and coordinate laboratory operations.
Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in scholarly journals, books, or electronic media.
Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, or handouts.
Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, projects, assignments, and papers.
Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
Compile, administer, and grade examinations or assign this work to others.
Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and performance pieces.
Write grant proposals to procure external research funding and review others' grant proposals.
Act as advisers to student organizations.
Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
Participate in campus and community events.
Provide professional consulting services to government or industry.
Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.

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

Activities	Importance	Details
Training and Teaching Others		Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates		Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships		Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

Training and Teaching Others

Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

What is an Agricultural Sciences Professor salary?

The median salary for an Agricultural Sciences Professor is $90,340, and the average salary is $96,200. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Agricultural Sciences Professor salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Agricultural Sciences Professors earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Agricultural Sciences Professors earn less than $47,100 per year, 25% earn less than $65,660, 75% earn less than $120,890, and 90% earn less than $157,650.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Agricultural Sciences Professors is expected to change by 5.1%, and there should be roughly 1,000 open positions for Agricultural Sciences Professors every year.

Median annual salary: $90,340
Typical salary range: $47,100 - $157,650
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 5.1%

What personality traits are common among Agricultural Sciences 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 an Agricultural Sciences Professor are usually higher in their Social, Investigative, and Realistic interests.

Agricultural Sciences 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, Agricultural Sciences Professors typically have very 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, Agricultural Sciences Professors typically have moderate Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

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 an Agricultural Sciences Professor tend to value Working Conditions, Achievement, and Recognition.

Most importantly, Agricultural Sciences Professors very strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Second, Agricultural Sciences 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.

Lastly, Agricultural Sciences 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 Agricultural Sciences Professors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, leadership, and integrity.

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

Demands	Importance	Details
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Leadership		Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Analytical Thinking		Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Adaptability/Flexibility		Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Leadership

Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Analytical Thinking

Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.

Adaptability/Flexibility

Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

What education and training do Agricultural Sciences Professors need?

Many Agricultural Sciences 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..

Agricultural Sciences 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 Agricultural Sciences 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 Agricultural Sciences Professors

Agricultural Sciences Professors may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as biology, education and training, or administration and management knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Agricultural Sciences Professors might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Biology		Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Education and Training		Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Food Production		Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Biology

Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education and Training

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Food Production

Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Important Abilities needed by Agricultural Sciences Professors

Agricultural Sciences 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, Agricultural Sciences 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 Agricultural Sciences Professors, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Written Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Written Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Critical Skills needed by Agricultural Sciences 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.

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

Skills	Importance	Details
Instructing		Teaching others how to do something.
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Learning Strategies		Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Instructing

Teaching others how to do something.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Learning Strategies

Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

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.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Agricultural Sciences Professor

Agricultural Sciences Professor

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