Career profile Physics Professor

Table of Contents

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

What does a Physics Professor do?

Physics Professors teach courses pertaining to the laws of matter and energy.

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

What kind of tasks does a Physics Professor perform regularly?

Physics 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 course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, or handouts.
• Compile, administer, and grade examinations or assign this work to others.
• Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
• Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
• Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
• Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
• 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.
• Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
• Advise students on academic and vocational curricula, and on career issues.
• Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in scholarly journals, books, or electronic media.
• Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and performance pieces.
• Maintain and repair laboratory equipment.
• Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department heads.
• Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
• Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.

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

What is a Physics Professor salary?

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

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

Most importantly, Physics 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.

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

Lastly, Physics 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 Physics Professors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, analytical thinking, and integrity.

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

What education and training do Physics Professors need?

Many Physics 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..

Physics 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 Physics 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 Physics Professors

Important Abilities needed by Physics Professors

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

Critical Skills needed by Physics 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.

Physics Professors frequently use skills like instructing, reading comprehension, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Physics 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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