What Do History Professors Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

History Professors teach courses in human history and historiography. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research. They also prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.

Other tasks include:

• Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as ancient history, postwar civilizations, and the history of third-world countries.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
• Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
• Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
• Evaluate and grade students’ class work, assignments, and papers.

We asked History Professors how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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83% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 83% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, History Professors perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head. They maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.

A typical day for a Postsecondary History Teacher will also include:

• Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
• Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
• Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.

We asked some History Professors a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	35% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	14% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	74% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	53% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	1% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	27% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, History Professors also maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students. They may also serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.

On a weekly to monthly basis, History Professors Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues. They might also Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.

In addition, they Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as ancient history, postwar civilizations, and the history of third-world countries.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.

To some History Professors, it is also their responsibility to Evaluate and grade students’ class work, assignments, and papers.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Postsecondary History Teacher, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm

http://www.cgsnet.org/

https://www.acteonline.org/

http://www.teach.org/