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The Complete Guide to Becoming A Postsecondary Teacher, All Other
The real day-to-day work, pay, and career path for Postsecondary Teachers, All Other - what every student and career-changer needs to know before committing years of education and student debt
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Postsecondary Teacher, All Other Actually Do?
Let's get one thing out of the way immediately: "Postsecondary Teacher, All Other" is not a job title that shows up on anyone's business card. It is a catch-all category used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to group together every person who teaches at a college, university, community college, or trade school but does not fit neatly into a specific subject-matter discipline like "Biology Teacher" or "Economics Teacher." If you teach English, chemistry, or engineering, you are counted in a separate category. If you teach something more difficult to classify - like "General Studies," "Workplace Communication," "Information Technology," or "Interdisciplinary Humanities" - you become part of this expansive and varied group of nearly 1.1 million American workers.
That number is important. It tells you that this is not a niche, fringe career. It is roughly the size of the entire legal profession. The people in this category work in 2-year community colleges, 4-year liberal arts colleges, massive state research universities, private for-profit institutions like the University of Phoenix, small religious seminaries, and technical schools that teach everything from automotive repair to medical coding. Because the scope is so broad, the best way to understand what a Postsecondary Teacher, All Other actually does on a daily basis is to consider the three distinct roles that dominate this career category: the tenure-track professor, the full-time teaching instructor, and the contingent part-time adjunct.