Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses pertaining to recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, including exercise physiology and facilities management. 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 12% 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 +2.2% 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)
- $77,270
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.2%
- Openings a year
- 1,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 15,200
- Usual route in
- Doctorate or professional degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- Advise others on educational or vocational matters
- Teach academic or vocational subjects
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
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Education teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 14, +2.5%
- Family and consumer sciences teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 15, +2.4%
- Postsecondary teachers, all otherChanging shape, Index 20, +2.0%
- Social sciences teachers, postsecondary, all otherChanging shape, Index 19, +1.6%
Also known as: Health and Physical Education Professor (HPE Professor), Instructor, Physical Education Professor (PE Professor), Professor, Adjunct Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Health and Human Performance 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.