Career profile for Criminal Justice Professor

What does a Criminal Justice Professor do?

Criminal Justice Professors teach courses in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement administration.

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

What kind of tasks does a Criminal Justice Professor perform regularly?

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

Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, papers, and oral presentations.
Compile, administer, and grade examinations or assign this work to others.
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.
Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, or handouts.
Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
Advise students on academic and vocational curricula, and on career issues.
Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and performance pieces.
Write letters of recommendation for students.
Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.
Participate in campus and community events.

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

Activities	Importance	Details
Working with Computers		Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
Training and Teaching Others		Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge		Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work		Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
Thinking Creatively		Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

Working with Computers

Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

Training and Teaching Others

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

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Thinking Creatively

Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

What is a Criminal Justice Professor salary?

The median salary for a Criminal Justice Professor is $63,560, and the average salary is $74,740. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Criminal Justice Professor salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Criminal Justice Professors earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Criminal Justice Professors earn less than $35,180 per year, 25% earn less than $49,140, 75% earn less than $86,680, and 90% earn less than $129,820.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Criminal Justice Professors is expected to change by 11.2%, and there should be roughly 1,700 open positions for Criminal Justice Professors every year.

Median annual salary: $63,560
Typical salary range: $35,180 - $129,820
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 11.2%

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

Criminal Justice 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, Criminal Justice Professors typically have 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 Criminal Justice Professor tend to value Independence, Achievement, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Criminal Justice Professors very strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Second, Criminal Justice 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, Criminal Justice Professors strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

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 Criminal Justice Professors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, self-control, and integrity.

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

Demands	Importance	Details
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Independence		Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Dependability

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

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Independence

Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

What education and training do Criminal Justice Professors need?

Many Criminal Justice 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..

Criminal Justice 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 Criminal Justice 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 Criminal Justice Professors

Criminal Justice Professors may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as education and training, public safety and security, or law and government knowledge.

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

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
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.
Public Safety and Security		Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Law and Government		Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
Computers and Electronics		Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

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.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Law and Government

Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

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.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Important Abilities needed by Criminal Justice Professors

Criminal Justice 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, Criminal Justice 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 Criminal Justice 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.
Written Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

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.

Written Expression

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

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Critical Skills needed by Criminal Justice 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.

Criminal Justice Professors frequently use skills like speaking, active listening, and critical thinking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Criminal Justice Professors, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Writing		Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

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.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

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 Criminal Justice Professor

Criminal Justice Professor

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