The Complete Guide to Becoming A Political Science Teacher, Postsecondary

Chapter 1: What Does a Political Science Teacher, Postsecondary Actually Do?

Let's cut through the vague image of someone in a tweed jacket lecturing to a quiet room. The job of a Political Science Teacher, Postsecondary — which is the official federal occupation label for anyone from a part-time adjunct to a tenured professor — is a mix of teaching, grading, preparation, research, and institutional housekeeping. The balance of those things changes wildly depending on where you work. A community college instructor might spend 80 percent of their working hours on teaching and grading. A professor at a research university might spend half their time on research and writing, and half on teaching and service. If that sounds flexible, it is. But "flexible" in this job also means "you're never truly off the clock."

Let's start with the teaching itself, because that's what everyone imagines. If you work at a typical four-year college, you'll likely teach between three and five courses per semester. At a community college, that number is often four or five, sometimes with multiple sections of the same course. A "course" at the undergraduate level means you are responsible for anywhere from 20 to 200 students per section. That's not a typo. At a large public university, your introductory course, like American Government or Introduction to Comparative Politics, might be a lecture hall with 200 students. At a small liberal arts college, you might have 30. The size of the class changes everything about how you work,