Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary
Teach courses in the agricultural sciences. Includes teachers of agronomy, dairy sciences, fisheries management, horticultural sciences, poultry sciences, range management, and agricultural soil conservation. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Most important skills
- Instructing
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Learning Strategies
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
Key knowledge
- Biology
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Food Production
- Communications and Media
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.
- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as crop production, plant genetics, and soil chemistry.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
- Supervise laboratory sessions and field work and coordinate laboratory operations.
- Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (55.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (67.5%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (24.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 67% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 67% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 56% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 91% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 71% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 83% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 73% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 77% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 11.47%
- Fairly important: 15.85%
- Important: 38.17%
- Very important: 32.07%
- Extremely important: 2.43%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 11.47%
- Important: 2.79%
- Very important: 24.5%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.61%
- Limited freedom: 1.82%
- Some freedom: 24.2%
- A lot of freedom: 73.37%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.25%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.37%
- Every day: 25.35%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 11.47%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 53.33%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.09%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.9%
- Every day: 1.21%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 66.89%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.81%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 2.94%
- Every day: 1.35%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 25.09%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 7.73%
- Very serious: 12.08%
- Extremely serious: 11.47%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 25-1041.00 · SOC 25-1041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8