Associate professor
Associate professor
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Names | Professor |
| Profession | |
| Academics | |
| Description | |
| Competencies | Academic knowledge, teaching |
| Typically adoctoral degreeand additional academic qualifications | |
| Academics | |
| Researcher | |
Associate professor (frequently capitalized as Associate Professor) is an academic title with two principal meanings.
In the North American system, used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position between assistant professor and a full professorship. In this system an associate professorship is typically the first promotion obtained after gaining a faculty position, and in the United States it is usually connected to tenure.
In the Commonwealth system, the title associate professor is traditionally used in place of reader in certain countries. Like the reader title it ranks above senior lecturer – which corresponds to associate professor in the North American system – and is broadly equivalent to a North American full professor, as the full professor title is held by far less people in the Commonwealth system. In this system an associate professorship is typically the second or third promotion obtained after gaining an academic position, and someone promoted to associate professor has usually been a permanent employee already in their two previous ranks as lecturer and senior lecturer. Traditionally British universities have used the title reader, while associate professor in place of reader is traditionally used in Australia and New Zealand,[1] South Africa, India, Malaysia, and Ireland within an otherwise British system of ranks. More recently, some universities in Commonwealth countries have adopted the North American system of ranks.
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Names | Professor |
| Profession | |
| Academics | |
| Description | |
| Competencies | Academic knowledge, teaching |
| Typically adoctoral degreeand additional academic qualifications | |
| Academics | |
| Researcher | |
Overview
Comparison
The table presents a broad overview of the traditional main systems, but there are universities which use a combination of those systems or other titles.
Some universities in Commonwealth countries have also entirely adopted the North American system in place of the Commonwealth system.
| North American system | Commonwealth system |
|---|---|
| (Full) Professor(upper half, includingDistinguished Professoror equivalent) | Professor(the full Professor title is held by roughly halfas many academics in Commonwealth universitiesas compared to U.S. universities) |
| (Full) Professor(lower half) | Readeror Principal Lecturer (mainly UK) or Associate Professor (mainly Australia, NZ, South Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Ireland) |
| Associate professor(typically the first permanent position) | Senior Lecturer |
| Assistant professor(commonly the entry-level position) | Lecturer(typically the first permanent position) |
| N/A | Associate lecturer(commonly the entry-level position) |
Adoption of American titles by Commonwealth universities
Increasingly, some universities in Commonwealth countries have adopted the American hierarchy of titles.
The University of Western Australia, for example, adopted the American system in 2009; those who until then held the title lecturer received the new title assistant professor, previous senior lecturers received the new title associate professor, previous associate professors under the old system received the new title professor, and previous professors under the old system received the new title Winthrop professor.[2] Under this methodology the titles correspond in the following way:
| Old titles | New titles |
|---|---|
| Professor | A higher/named professorship (e.g. "Winthrop Professor") |
| Readeror Associate Professor | Professor |
| Senior Lecturer | Associate Professor |
| Lecturer | Assistant Professor |