Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Sociology teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses in sociology. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 20% 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 +2.2% 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)
- $84,290
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.2%
- Openings a year
- 1,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 14,600
- 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
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as race and ethnic relations, measurement and data collection, and workplace social relations.
- 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
- Geography teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 21, +2.7%
- Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondaryChanging shape, Index 26, +2.7%
- Computer science teachers, postsecondaryGrows with AI, Index 22, +4.9%
- Engineering teachers, postsecondaryGrows with AI, Index 28, +7.8%
Also known as: Assistant Professor, Professor, Sociology Instructor, Sociology Professor, Adjunct Instructor, Associate Professor, Faculty Member, 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.