Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
Teach courses in psychology, such as child, clinical, and developmental psychology, and psychological counseling. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Most important skills
- Learning Strategies
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Instructing
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
Key knowledge
- Psychology
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Mathematics
- Therapy and Counseling
- Computers and Electronics
- Communications and Media
What the work involves
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as abnormal psychology, cognitive processes, and work motivation.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (54.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (37.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (32.1%)
- 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 Psychology 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 | Lower on contact with others than 52% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 56% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 77% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 97% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 82% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 76% of occupations compared | 67% 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 68% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 92% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: 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: 11.81%
- Contact with others most of the time: 39.06%
- Constant contact with others: 49.13%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 21%
- Fairly important: 17.58%
- Important: 5.33%
- Very important: 26.11%
- Extremely important: 29.97%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 20.18%
- Important: 6.44%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 33.53%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 10.56%
- A lot of freedom: 89.44%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 11.37%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40.98%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 45.15%
- Every day: 2.5%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 66.63%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.58%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 11.79%
- Every day: 0%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 54.76%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44.13%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.86%
- Every day: 0.24%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 39.59%
- Fairly serious: 33.56%
- Serious: 16.04%
- Very serious: 10.54%
- Extremely serious: 0.27%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 25-1066.00 · SOC 25-1066 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8