Is University Teaching a Profession? Examining the Academic Role

When we think of a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, the word “profession” comes naturally. But what about a university teacher? The question is less straightforward than it appears. University teaching involves deep expertise, years of advanced training, a commitment to generating new knowledge, and an expanding role in solving real-world problems. Yet it occupies a unique space that does not fit neatly into the conventional definition of a profession. Understanding what makes university teaching distinct – and why it deserves to be taken seriously as a professional field – is increasingly important as higher education systems evolve around the world.

What makes an occupation a profession? 🔗

The sociological definition of a profession goes beyond simply having a job that requires skill. As noted in the ScienceDirect overview of the teaching profession, a profession is a cluster of occupational roles in which members perform functions valued by society, exercise a degree of independent judgement, are trained through a formally organized educational process, and are considered qualified to practice only after meeting recognized standards. By these criteria, university teaching checks several important boxes – but with some distinctive characteristics that set it apart from professions like medicine or law.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, most postsecondary teachers are required to hold a PhD in their field, and overall employment of postsecondary teachers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2024 to 2034 – much faster than the average across all occupations. That growth reflects the value societies place on the academic role. But the role itself is far more complex than it might appear from the outside.

University teaching as a specialized field 🔗

At its core, university teaching is grounded in advanced disciplinary knowledge. A university teacher is not simply someone who explains concepts clearly – they are an expert who has spent years acquiring deep, specialized knowledge in a specific field, typically through doctoral study and ongoing research. This specialization is what distinguishes university teaching from other forms of instruction.

A scoping review published in Frontiers in Education defines university teaching as an academic activity requiring extensive professional skills, a high level of disciplinary expertise, and the ability to apply effective teaching approaches that create a quality learning environment. The review also notes a significant shift in the goals of higher education over the past five decades – from preparing students for stable industrial roles to equipping them to navigate the challenges of a global, knowledge-intensive economy.

This shift has raised the bar for what university teachers are expected to know and do. It is no longer sufficient to hold expertise in isolation. University teachers are expected to stay current with developments in their fields, integrate new findings into their teaching, and model the habits of mind that characterize educated professionals. As CareerExplorer describes, professors are responsible for shaping the intellectual and professional development of their students, fostering critical thinking, and advancing knowledge within their disciplines – a scope of responsibility that clearly meets the standard of a profession.

Advanced preparation and entry standards 🔗

One marker of any profession is the rigor of its entry requirements. In higher education, the path to becoming a university teacher typically requires completing a PhD, accumulating research experience, and demonstrating the ability to contribute original knowledge to a field. The University of Edinburgh’s Careers Service notes that in many disciplines, academics spend several years working as researchers – publishing findings and securing research funding – before transitioning into full lecturer roles. In some vocational fields such as law or accountancy, significant professional practice experience is also expected.

This preparation is not merely about accumulating credentials. It shapes how a university teacher thinks, questions, and approaches knowledge – forming the professional identity that carries through into the classroom.

Acquisition and transmission of knowledge: the teaching-research balance 🔗

One of the most defining – and debated – features of university teaching as a profession is the dual expectation of teaching and research. Unlike school teachers, university faculty are generally expected not just to transmit existing knowledge but to actively generate new knowledge through research. This creates a relationship between the two activities that is both productive and, at times, tension-filled.

Research published in the European Journal of Higher Education describes the connection between teaching and research as the teacher’s core professional responsibility – to follow the research conducted in their subject area and integrate that evolving knowledge into their teaching. The study introduces a model of the research-teaching nexus that moves students progressively from being consumers of knowledge to participants in knowledge creation.

A study on the teaching-research balance in higher education institutions explains this relationship clearly: research is the process of learning for academics, and teaching is the promotion of learning for students. Teachers learn from research, and students learn from teachers – creating an indirect but strong relationship between research quality and teaching quality. In this sense, research does not pull academics away from teaching; it feeds into it.

When the balance tips 🔗

Despite the clear benefits of integrating research and teaching, institutional pressures often skew the balance. A 2024 study in Frontiers in Education found that when university evaluation systems over-reward research output while undervaluing teaching, teachers tend to devote more energy to research activities that are easily measured and publicly recognized. The consequences include declining teaching quality and what the study calls the “materialization” of teaching labor – where the intrinsic value of knowledge transmission is eroded by performance metrics.

This is a genuine professional challenge. A doctor who prioritizes paperwork over patient care is considered to be failing their professional duty. Similarly, a university teacher who neglects the quality of student learning in favor of publication counts is not fully meeting the obligations of the academic role. The profession demands both – and institutions need to recognize that.

How knowledge is transmitted effectively 🔗

The way a university teacher transmits knowledge matters as much as the knowledge itself. Research published in the journal Higher Education, based on responses from 638 teachers across four UK institutions, found that university teachers tend to orient themselves toward either knowledge transmission or learning facilitation – and that the most effective teaching integrates both. Simply delivering information is not sufficient; students need to be guided toward deep engagement with material, not just surface exposure to it.

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology confirms that knowledge transfer from teacher to student is significantly shaped by both the teacher’s approach and the student’s prior knowledge. The study found that teaching style and mode are key determining factors in whether students can genuinely absorb and apply what they learn – which means that professional competence in university teaching is not just about knowing a subject, but about understanding how learning happens.

Application of knowledge: the teacher’s expanding real-world role 🔗

The third dimension of university teaching as a profession – and perhaps the most rapidly evolving one – is the expectation that faculty will apply their expertise beyond the classroom. University teachers today are increasingly called upon to engage with industries, governments, communities, and public institutions to help address real-world problems.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) describes this dimension in detail. In addition to teaching and research, faculty members routinely provide professional advice to local, state, or national governments; give presentations to business or community groups; advise associations; and help disseminate new knowledge through editorial work and public engagement. These activities are not peripheral to the academic role – they are an expression of it.

This connects to what some scholars describe as the university teacher’s role as a facilitator of applied learning. Service learning – where students apply classroom knowledge to real community challenges – is one high-impact approach that deepens disciplinary understanding while building civic responsibility. When university teachers design and supervise such experiences, they are not just transmitting knowledge; they are modeling how expertise is deployed in the service of society.

Bridging theory and practice 🔗

A growing body of evidence supports the integration of real-world problem-solving into university teaching as a core professional function. A 2025 study in Scientific Reports found that project-based learning frameworks that incorporate industry collaboration significantly improve students’ competencies in technical skills, teamwork, problem-solving, and career readiness – all outcomes that university teachers are now expected to actively cultivate, not just hope for.

This applied dimension of the academic role also changes how university teachers must think about their own expertise. It is no longer sufficient to know a subject deeply in the abstract. A university teacher today must understand how that knowledge operates in practice, where its limits lie, and how it can be used responsibly to address complex challenges. That demands a level of professional engagement with the broader world that goes well beyond the traditional image of the academic in an ivory tower.

The ethical dimension: a mark of every profession 🔗

Professions are distinguished not only by expertise but by ethical responsibilities. Doctors follow clinical ethics, lawyers uphold confidentiality, engineers prioritize public safety. University teachers operate under their own set of professional ethics: maintaining academic integrity, ensuring fair and impartial assessment, respecting diverse viewpoints, and fostering inclusive learning environments. These are not informal expectations – they are the standards that make the role a trusted one in society.

As described in the Whatuni higher education teaching profile, the role of a university teacher encompasses not only delivering lectures and supervising research but also publishing academic work, engaging in professional associations, and managing departmental responsibilities. This breadth of obligation – ethical, intellectual, and institutional – is precisely what characterizes a profession in the fullest sense.

So, is university teaching a profession? 🔗

The evidence is clear that university teaching meets the essential criteria of a profession: it requires advanced, specialized knowledge acquired through rigorous formal preparation; it involves a dual commitment to generating and transmitting knowledge; it carries ethical responsibilities to students, institutions, and society; and it increasingly demands engagement with real-world problems beyond the boundaries of the campus. What makes it distinctive is that, unlike most professions, it is also a meta-profession – one whose purpose is to cultivate all other professions. The university teacher who trains future doctors, engineers, lawyers, and researchers is not simply practicing a profession; they are enabling the entire professional ecosystem of society.

Recognizing university teaching as a profession in its full complexity – rather than treating it as a by-product of research expertise – is essential for building higher education systems that genuinely serve students, institutions, and the public good.

What do you think? Should universities formally require pedagogical training as a condition for faculty appointment, the way other professions require licensed practice? And as university teachers take on larger roles in real-world problem-solving and community engagement, how should institutions redefine what “academic excellence” actually means?

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/teaching-profession
2. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm
3. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.861458/full
4. https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/professor/
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6. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21568235.2024.2306939
7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301640587_Achieving_an_Appropriate_Balance_between_Teaching_and_Research_in_Institutions_of_Higher_Education_An_Exploratory_Study
8. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1348452/full
9. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-004-6363-z
10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8039507/
11. https://www.aaup.org/what-do-faculty-do
12. https://www.ideaedu.org/idea-notes-on-learning/learning-to-apply-knowledge-and-skills-to-benefit-others-or-serve-the-public-good/index.html
13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-10385-4
14. https://www.whatuni.com/career-guides/teaching-and-lecturing/higher-education-teaching-professional/