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The Complete Guide to Becoming A Sociology Teacher, Postsecondary
The real pay, path, and daily grind of teaching sociology at colleges and universities — and how to know if it's actually right for you before you invest years of your life.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Sociology Teacher, Postsecondary Actually Do?
Let's cut through the image you probably have in your head. You're picturing a professor standing at a lectern, chalk dust in the air, delivering a brilliant monologue about inequality to a hushed lecture hall of 200 students. That happens maybe three hours a week. The rest of the job - the other 40 to 50 hours - looks very, very different.
At its core, a Sociology Teacher, Postsecondary (which is the official Bureau of Labor Statistics title, but everyone just calls it a sociology professor or sociology instructor) does three things: teach, produce scholarship, and serve the institution. The balance between those three shifts dramatically depending on where you get a job. At a community college, you might teach a 4-4 load - that's four courses each semester, or eight classes per academic year. At a research-heavy university, you might teach as few as two courses per semester, but you'll be expected to publish peer-reviewed articles in academic journals on a punishing schedule. At a liberal arts college, you'll teach three courses per semester and be expected to do research AND mentor students AND sit on committees. There is no single job description, but there is a shared rhythm to the work.
Let's walk through the teaching piece first, because that's the part you think you know. A typical sociology course - let's say Introduction to Sociology - has an enrollment of anywhere from 35 students at a small