Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary
The occupation Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary covers people who teach courses in social work. One core duty is to initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions. On the six-type interest model it reads SIA, meaning helping, teaching or caring for people comes first, followed by research, analysis and working through hard problems. Plan on graduate school and often five years or more of related experience; O*NET labels this extensive preparation. Strength in instructing, speaking, and learning strategies helps most here. The job can ask you to prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, or handouts. If you want helping, teaching or caring for people, keep it on your list. If you need hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world, it may feel thin.
What they do
Teach courses in social work. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Main tasks
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, or handouts.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Supervise students' laboratory and field work.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as family behavior, child and adolescent mental health, or social intervention evaluation.
- Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
Skills
- Instructing
- Speaking
- Learning Strategies
- Writing
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You get energy from helping other people move forward.
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
- You are comfortable relying on instructing and speaking.
May not suit you if
- You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
- You want to work with your hands for most of the day. Realistic rates 2.2 out of 7 here.
- You want to be working in the field within the next few years.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SIA takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.
Preparation
Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.
Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Doctoral Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.
Also called
- Adjunct Professor
- Assistant Professor
- Clinical Professor
- Faculty Member
- Field Education Coordinator
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.