Professor vs Associate Professor
Since both professor and associate professor are high ranks when the academic staff of a higher education institution concerned, one should know the difference between professor and associate professor. Associate professor is the position one rank below professorship. However , in different countries the associate professorship is given different places in the hierarchy while the full professorship remains the highest academic title. For instance, in America, associate professor is one rank higher to assistant professor whereas in most of the commonwealth countries this being a position in between senior lecturer and professor. However, both these positions are known as tenured positions in universities.
Who is a Professor?
Professorship is the highest rank in the academics’ hierarchy in a university. Most of the time, professor is defined as a person who professes . Anyone who aspires to be a professor should obtain a Ph.D. Professorship is granted to individuals taking their significant contribution to research and teaching of a particular discipline into consideration. Professors are expected to lecture graduate and undergraduate students of an institute and especially their advocacy in course and curricular designing is given to junior academic staves. Yet, their key responsibility remains conducting research and sharing the findings with academic communities locally as well as internationally. Professors usually hold responsibilities as heads of departments, faculties. They also play leadership roles as members of management committees giving their contribution to smooth functioning of and advancement of universities.
Who is an Associate Professor?
Associate professorship is one rank below to the full professorship.In commonwealth countries, the position is also known as a reader. An associate professor is someone who has earned a Ph.D . and has got considerable teaching and research experience yet not as senior as a professor. Assistant professorship that is the entry level requirement for academics to join the staff of a university is one position below associate professors. In some contexts, associate professors are also endowed with the right to vote in decision making in the affiliated institute, for example, in the US . In most of the countries even though associate professors play an active role in teaching they cannot be seen supervising Ph.D . students themselves like professors. With experience associate professors are also expected to play leadership roles within an institute. However, it is important to remember their responsibilities and job role may vary country to country or institution to institution.
What is the difference between Professor and Associate Professor?
As mentioned above both of these positions are considered as tenured positions in a university. Some important facts about the two positions are,
• Professorship is the highest position in an academic staff of a university while associate professorship is one rank below full professorship.
• Professors play an important role in conducting research in a particular discipline whereas assistant professors are expected to involve in both teaching and research.
• Professors usually play leadership roles in management of educational institutions.
• There are special jobs undertaken by professors like supervising Ph.D. students based on their seniority.
In conclusion, it should be brought to attention that it is the wide, long term experience in teaching and research that makes professors senior to associate professors. As associate professors gain more experience in their field with the time and exposure, they have a good chance of being promoted to full professorship.