# Assistant professor

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For broader coverage of this topic, see [Professor](/source/Professor).

**Assistant professor** is an [academic rank](/source/Academic_rank) just below the rank of an [associate professor](/source/Associate_professor) used in universities or colleges, mainly in the [United States](/source/United_States), [Canada](/source/Canada), [Japan](/source/Japan), and [South Korea](/source/South_Korea).

## Overview

This position is generally taken after earning a [doctoral degree](/source/Doctoral_degree) and sometimes after several years of holding one or more [postdoctoral researcher](/source/Postdoctoral_research) positions.[1][2][3][4] It is below the position of [associate professor](/source/Associate_professor) at most universities and is equivalent to the rank of [lecturer](/source/Lecturer) at most Commonwealth universities. In the United States, assistant professor is often the first position held in a [tenure track](/source/Tenure_track), although it can also be a non-tenure track position. A typical professorship sequence is assistant professor, associate professor, and [full professor](/source/Full_professor) in order. After seven years, if successful, assistant professors can get tenure and also get promotion to associate professor.[5]

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.[citation needed]

## Comparison

The table presents a broad overview of the traditional main systems, but there are universities that use a combination of those systems or other titles. Some universities in Commonwealth countries have also entirely adopted the North American system in place of the Commonwealth system.

North American system Commonwealth system Professor (higher tier, including distinguished professor or equivalent) (available only in some positions) Professor (chair) Professor Reader (mainly UK) or associate professor (mainly Australia, NZ, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Ireland) Associate professor Senior lecturer Assistant professor Lecturer Instructor Associate lecturer (commonly the entry-level position)

## References

1. Bourne, P. E. & Friedberg, I. (2006). "Ten Simple Rules for Selecting a Postdoctoral Position". *PLOS Computational Biology*. **2** (11): e121. [Bibcode:2006PLSCB...2..121B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006PLSCB...2..121B). [doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020121](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020121). [PMC 1664706](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1664706). [PMID 17121457](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17121457)

1. Ruben, A. (2013). "The Postdoc: A Special Kind of Hell". *Science*. [doi:10.1126/science.caredit.a1300256](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.caredit.a1300256)

1. Brooks, I. M. (2008). "Postdoc glut means academic pathway needs an overhaul". *Nature*. **454** (7208): 1049. [Bibcode:2008Natur.454.1049B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008Natur.454.1049B). [doi:10.1038/4541049a](https://doi.org/10.1038/4541049a). [PMID 18756230](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18756230)

1. Odom, D. T. (2014). "Survival strategies for choosing the right postdoc position". *[Genome Biology](/source/Genome_Biology)*. **15** (3): 107. [doi:10.1186/gb4163](https://doi.org/10.1186/gb4163). [PMC 4053951](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4053951). [PMID 25001498](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25001498)

1. ["The Transition from Graduate Student to Assistant Professor"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220611034402/https://career.berkeley.edu/PhDs/PhDtransition). *career.berkeley.edu*. Archived from [the original](https://career.berkeley.edu/PhDs/PhDtransition) on 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2017-08-18.

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