Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
Assist faculty or other instructional staff in postsecondary institutions by performing instructional support activities, such as developing teaching materials, leading discussion groups, preparing and giving examinations, and grading examinations or papers.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Instructing
- Learning Strategies
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Communications and Media
- Psychology
- Administrative
- Sociology and Anthropology
What the work involves
- Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections.
- Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers, and record grades.
- Return assignments to students in accordance with established deadlines.
- Schedule and maintain regular office hours to meet with students.
- Inform students of the procedures for completing and submitting class work, such as lab reports.
- Prepare or proctor examinations.
- Notify instructors of errors or problems with assignments.
- Meet with supervisors to discuss students' grades or to complete required grade-related paperwork.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (57.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (32.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (32.5%)
- 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 Teaching Assistants, 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 | High | Higher on contact with others than 68% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 76% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 58% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 61% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 79% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 73% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 86% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 78% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very 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: 2.85%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.51%
- Contact with others most of the time: 31.74%
- Constant contact with others: 64.9%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 18.52%
- Fairly important: 30.71%
- Important: 10.34%
- Very important: 40.18%
- Extremely important: 0.25%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0.77%
- Fairly important: 6.27%
- Important: 14.51%
- Very important: 32.52%
- Extremely important: 45.93%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 8.7%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 6.86%
- Some freedom: 48.08%
- A lot of freedom: 36.37%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 1.58%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36.82%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.22%
- Every day: 15.28%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 19.27%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.12%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 64.71%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 1.9%
- Every day: 0%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 25.22%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 33.99%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 37.63%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.16%
- Every day: 0%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 23.37%
- Fairly serious: 42.25%
- Serious: 16.73%
- Very serious: 8.7%
- Extremely serious: 8.95%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 25-9044.00 · SOC 25-9044 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8