Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses in philosophy, religion, and theology. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 9% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by +2.0% 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)
- $80,260
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.0%
- Openings a year
- 1,800
- People doing it (2025)
- 26,800
- 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
- Maintain operational records
- Develop educational programs, plans, or procedures
What the work looks like
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students and the community on topics such as ethics, logic, and contemporary religious thought.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Family and consumer sciences teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 15, +2.4%
- Communications teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 15, +2.1%
- Education teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 14, +2.5%
- Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 15, +1.5%
Also known as: Assistant Professor, Philosophy Professor, Professor, Religion Professor, Associate Professor, Humanities Professor, Instructor, Philosophy Instructor.
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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.