Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Social work teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses in social work. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 28% 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 +2.6% 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)
- $77,570
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.6%
- Openings a year
- 1,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 16,000
- Usual route in
- Doctorate or professional degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Advise others on educational or vocational matters
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- Teach academic or vocational subjects
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Assess student capabilities, needs, or performance
- Supervise personnel activities
- 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, or handouts.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
- Supervise students' laboratory and field work.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Architecture teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 34, +2.6%
- Mental health and substance abuse social workersGrows with AI, Index 90, +10.3%
- Rehabilitation counselorsChanging shape, Index 48, +2.2%
- Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 29, +2.9%
Also known as: Assistant Professor, Professor, Social Work Associate Professor, Social Work Professor, Adjunct Professor, Clinical Professor, Faculty Member, Field Education Coordinator.
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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.