Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses pertaining to the culture and development of an area, an ethnic group, or any other group, such as Latin American studies, women's studies, or urban affairs. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 26% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +2.7% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on creative vision and emotional intelligence.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $85,020
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.7%
- Openings a year
- 1,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 14,300
- Usual route in
- Doctorate or professional degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Teach academic or vocational subjects
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- Advise others on educational or vocational matters
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Assess student capabilities, needs, or performance
- Develop educational programs, plans, or procedures
- Maintain operational records
What the work looks like
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as race and ethnic relations, gender studies, and cross-cultural perspectives.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Social work teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 28, +2.6%
- Architecture teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 34, +2.6%
- Engineering teachers, postsecondaryGrows with AI, Index 28, +7.8%
- Physics teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 27, +2.4%
Also known as: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Women's Studies Professor, Adjunct Professor, American Studies Professor, Black Studies Professor, Ethnic Studies Professor.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.