Overview
Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea.
Overview
This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and generally after several years of holding one or more postdoctoral researcher positions. It is below the position of associate professor at most universities and is equivalent to the rank of lecturer at most Commonwealth universities. In the United States, assistant professor is often the first position held in a tenure track, although it can also be a non-tenure track position. A typical professorship sequence is assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor in order. After seven years, if successful, assistant professors can get tenure and also get promotion to associate professor.
There is high demand for vacant tenure-track assistant professor positions, often with hundreds of applicants. Less than 20% of doctoral graduates move onto a tenure-track assistant professor position after graduation.
Comparison
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