Associate Professor vs Assistant Professor vs Lecturer

Question

I want to know the difference between associate and assistant professor in terms of contract length, status and salary. And also how both positions are published and what's the recruitment process of each one mainly in Europe and Canada? What about lecturer positions in the US, could European PhDs land lecturer position in the US ?

Thanks

The positions are not standardised around the world, or even between institutions. Where are you asking about? — Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩, Dec 19 '20 at 14:54
Mainly in Europe, eventhough i also want an answer covering Canada as well — Sam, Dec 19 '20 at 14:54
Beware that Europe is not a uniform block: each country has its own recruiting processes and the statuses can vary too. Variations are possible also within a single country. — Massimo Ortolano, Dec 19 '20 at 15:08
Sam, the Italian positions are described in this answer. The RTD-B position is essentially the equivalent of assistant professor. — Massimo Ortolano, Dec 19 '20 at 15:17
Many Thanks ! ! what about the second part of the question, do PhDs land Lecturer positions in the US ? — Sam, Dec 19 '20 at 15:20
@Sam - few if any US universities I’m familiar with have a rank of ‘Lecturer’ - that seems more a British title. — Jon Custer, Dec 19 '20 at 16:01
yes indeed could you elaborate on the rank of Lecturer in the UK especially PhDs from the rest of Europe Thanks — Sam, Dec 19 '20 at 16:51
@JonCuster And for those that do, I would assume it referred to an adjunct teaching-only position, not equivalent to the UK title. — Bryan Krause, Dec 19 '20 at 19:49
@JonCuster MANY US universities employ lecturers. It's a teaching appointment. That's what I have at University of Michigan. — Nicole Hamilton, Dec 19 '20 at 19:53

Nicole Hamilton · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19T20:16:28.010

5

Here in the US, an assistant professor is an entry-level tenure track appointment but does not come with tenure. An associate professor is the next level up and does come with tenure. Tenure track appointments virtually always require a PhD but not necessarily from a US institution.

A lecturer appointment is a teaching position, almost never comes with tenure, and does not necessarily require PhD, though it does usually require a master's at minimum.

A typical initial contract is three years.

Open positions are often but not always posted on the department website. Contact the department you're interested in for more info. Typically, you'll be asked to supply a CV, references, various statements describing your objectives, teaching philosophy and research interests, and possibly a teaching demonstration video. Obviously, all of this depends on the department.

edited Dec 19 '20 at 20:16

answered Dec 19 '20 at 19:32

Nicole Hamilton

31,013
8
80
121

Alright, and are the assistant professor position posted somewhere ? or do you have to contact the department for them ? what comes into play for the recruitment for this type of position ? (especially if the applicant is from outside the US) – Sam Dec 19 '20 at 19:43
1

@Sam Very dependent on institution. – Bryan Krause Dec 19 '20 at 19:50
Also very dependent on the discipline. In some disciplines there are is a place where nearly all academic positions in the discipline are advertised (such as www.mathjobs.org for mathematics positions.) – Brian Borchers Dec 19 '20 at 21:45

Associate Professor vs Assistant Professor vs Lecturer

1 Answers1