English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
Teach courses in English language and literature, including linguistics and comparative literature. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Instructing
- Writing
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Learning Strategies
- Active Learning
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Communications and Media
- History and Archeology
- Philosophy and Theology
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as poetry, novel structure, and translation and adaptation.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (58.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (26.7%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (34.6%)
- 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 English Language and Literature 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 | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 53% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 55% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 87% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 86% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 56% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 86% of occupations compared | 56% 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 62% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 98% of occupations compared | 56% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: very 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: 18.44%
- Contact with others most of the time: 20.93%
- Constant contact with others: 60.63%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 17.92%
- Fairly important: 18.95%
- Important: 11.6%
- Very important: 18.89%
- Extremely important: 32.64%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 8.53%
- Fairly important: 2.16%
- Important: 28.51%
- Very important: 39.49%
- Extremely important: 21.31%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 1.18%
- Limited freedom: 0.29%
- Some freedom: 36.67%
- A lot of freedom: 61.86%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 38.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 45.83%
- Every day: 16.07%
n = 33, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 17.3%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 56.24%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.19%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.09%
- Every day: 1.17%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 8.82%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.71%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 58.43%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.04%
- Every day: 0%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 56.35%
- Fairly serious: 28.55%
- Serious: 13.78%
- Very serious: 0.29%
- Extremely serious: 1.03%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 25-1123.00 · SOC 25-1123 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8