Assistant/Associate/Professor?

Question

What is the difference between an assistant professor, associate professor and professor, and what are the typical requirements of each?

Answer 1

The biggest difference is PAY! Wikipedia breaks down the differences in professor titles nicely. Follow the link...

Answer 2

From the hierarchical point of view they are (from the bottom) Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. Usually a teacher (Faculty) after many years of teaching and/or research experience can get selected as an Assistant Professor and then move on to become an Associate Professor and finally the Professor which is the highest in the academic field. The professor usually heads the department (usually a specialized area of expertise) and will have few Associate and Assistant Professors in his team working under his administrative and academic guidance. The requirements differ from University to University and country to country. As they become seniors in the hierarchy they will be teaching/guiding higher classes like Masters, M.Phil and PhD. This is the overview answer to your question.

Answer 3

Its all about experience. At my university you start as an adjunct professor, then become an assistant professor and finally an associate before you are promoted to full professor status. These promotions are based on years in the faculty, years in the teaching field, publications, working relationship with your peers and how your students have reviewed you.

You're looking at AT LEAST 10 years to become a full prof.

Answer 4

Relates to salary and experience. Most PhD students graduate and go to their first full-time, tenure-track job as an Asst. Most get promoted to Assoc, when they reach tenure (in the 6th year or so). To become a full professor, there are other publishing and teaching requirements, beyond the tenure level. Not all professors advance that far before retiring--and some don't even want that promotion.