Looking at the list of “hot careers” for the twenty-first century, you may at first feel a little surprised to see “college professor” coming-in at number 3. Information technology leads the list, and health care follows close on its heels, but careers in higher education rank third-considerably higher than ever before. Although preparation for academic life demands commitment to considerable study beyond the Bachelor’s degree, working as a tenured professor holds considerable advantages over professional jobs that require similar academic preparation.
Consider, for example, a professor’s work schedule: In a traditional setting, a professor conducts class and office hours approximately fifteen hours per week for 32 weeks of the year. With approximately the same education, and attorney works 100 hours per week every week of the year. Just as importantly, a professor receives incentives and encouragement to write and publish, and the publications naturally supplement the professor’s already substantial income. Professors who write textbooks typically earn six figures in annual royalties; twenty-first century professors who write texts for netbooks will earn even more money from royalties and downloads.
Especially if you stand on the threshold of earning an undergraduate degree in any of the humanities, you seriously should consider continuing your education to a doctorate and joining the professors’ ranks. If you attend a traditional four-year university, note how many of your instructors are in the fifties and sixties. Then, ask yourself who will replace them when they retire. Why not you?
Never think of money as an obstacle. Federally sponsored graduate fellowships abound, and the National Endowment for the Humanities supports many doctoral candidates as they complete their dissertations. The universities themselves support graduate students with research and teaching assistantships, and most of them supplement government grants with fellowships of their own.