Career profile Biology Professor

Table of Contents

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

What does a Biology Professor do?

Biology Professors teach courses in biological sciences.

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

What kind of tasks does a Biology Professor perform regularly?

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

• Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, projects, assignments, and papers.
• Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
• Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
• Prepare materials for laboratory activities and course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Supervise students' laboratory work.
• 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.
• Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
• Compile, administer, and grade examinations or assign this work to others.
• Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
• Assist students who need extra help with their coursework outside of class.
• Advise students on academic and vocational curricula, and on career issues.
• Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
• 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.
• Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and performance pieces.
• Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
• Provide students course-related experiences, such as field trips, outside the classroom.
• Write grant proposals to procure external research funding and review others' grant proposals.
• Review papers for publication in journals.
• Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
• Maintain or repair lab equipment.

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

What is a Biology Professor salary?

What personality traits are common among Biology 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 Biology Professor are usually higher in their Social and Investigative interests.

Biology 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, Biology 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.

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 Biology Professor tend to value Working Conditions, Achievement, and Recognition.

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

Second, Biology 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, Biology 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 Biology Professors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as achievement/effort, integrity, and persistence.

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

What education and training do Biology Professors need?

Many Biology 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..

Biology 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 Biology 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 Biology Professors

Important Abilities needed by Biology Professors

Biology 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, Biology 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 Biology Professors, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Biology 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.

Biology Professors frequently use skills like speaking, learning strategies, and instructing to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Biology 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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