History Teachers, Postsecondary

Impact: Educational outcomes

History teachers at colleges and universities lead courses on the past, from ancient Rome to decolonization, while tenure-track faculty also research and publish. Reading primary sources and teaching students to argue with evidence sets the work apart.

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What do History Teachers, Postsecondary do?

What the work is really like

You teach undergraduates and sometimes graduate students about the past, usually within a narrow field you spent years researching. Your classroom might cover ancient Rome, the American Civil War, decolonization in Africa, or the history of science. You prepare, you lecture, you grade. Office hours happen twice a week, and some students show up with real questions while others want grade negotiation dressed as curiosity. You design syllabi that balance breadth with depth, knowing you will never cover everything and someone will complain either way.

Research sits alongside teaching if you are tenure-track. You write articles, present at conferences, apply for grants, and revise book manuscripts that take years to finish. If you are an adjunct or lecturer, teaching is the whole job, and you might handle four courses a semester across two campuses. Either way, you attend department meetings, serve on committees, and spend more time on email than you expected. The rhythm follows the academic calendar, so summers are off in theory but often filled with research, writing, or compressed summer sessions.

The work solves a specific problem: helping people understand how we got here. You show students that the present did not arrive by accident and that primary sources require careful interpretation. Some of your students will become historians. Most will not. You teach them to read critically, write clearly, and argue with evidence, which matters in law, journalism, policy, and a dozen other fields.

Skills and strengths that matter

You need deep knowledge of your field and a working grasp of historiography, the study of how history gets written and rewritten. Research skills matter. You spend hours in archives, databases, and libraries hunting down letters, government records, newspapers, and obscure monographs. Reading is constant. Writing is how you think, and you do a lot of it.

Teaching is performance and structure combined. You stand in front of a room and hold attention for fifty or ninety minutes, then you go home and design assignments that test understanding without drowning yourself in grading. Learning strategies matter because you adapt constantly to different student backgrounds, motivations, and skill levels. Some arrive with strong writing skills, and others do not. Speaking clearly and answering questions on your feet separates a competent lecture from a forgettable one.

You also need patience with bureaucracy and a tolerance for work that never quite finishes. There is always another book to read, another draft to revise, another batch of essays to grade. Web platform tools show up more than you might expect, because you build course websites, run learning management systems, and occasionally digitize historical materials for student access. Problem-solving is less about technical puzzles and more about working out why a lesson fell flat or how to make a complicated argument legible to eighteen-year-olds.

Who tends to thrive here

This work suits people who want to spend their lives reading, researching, and talking about the past. You do well here if deep focus energizes you and if you can handle long stretches of solo work punctuated by intense social interaction. Teaching feeds extroverts who like an audience, and it also works for introverts who recharge afterward. The job rewards curiosity that does not quit and a temperament that tolerates ambiguity, because historical interpretation is never final.

People who do well here often value intellectual independence and care more about ideas than income. The work fits those who can tolerate moderate stress without constant validation. You will not get promoted quickly. Tenure takes years, and many positions do not offer it at all. If you need frequent feedback or fast results, this work will frustrate you.

It drains people who want variety in their daily tasks or who dislike the slow churn of academic publishing. It also wears down those who cannot separate their self-worth from student evaluations, because criticism arrives every semester whether you deserve it or not. The job market for tenure-track positions is bleak, and adjunct work pays poorly for the hours required. If financial security in your twenties and thirties matters to you, choose something else.

How people get into the role and grow

You need a doctoral degree in history. Most people finish a bachelor's degree in history or a related field, then enter a PhD program that takes five to seven years. You write a dissertation, which is a book-length research project, and you teach as a graduate assistant along the way. Some programs offer more teaching training than others. Pay attention to that.

Your first job is likely a visiting position, postdoc, or adjunct role. Tenure-track jobs are rare and brutally competitive. Early career milestones include publishing your dissertation as a book or a series of articles, building a teaching portfolio, and setting a research agenda that extends beyond your PhD work. If you land a tenure-track position, you work toward tenure over six years by meeting teaching, research, and service expectations. Tenure offers job security. Without it, you reapply constantly.

Mid-career means associate professor. You continue research, mentor graduate students if your institution has a PhD program, and take on more administrative duties. Senior roles include full professor or department chair, which adds budget management and hiring decisions to the mix. Some historians move into academic administration, museum work, or public history. The field is contracting slightly, and competition remains fierce for the positions that do open.

From people working as History Teachers, Postsecondary

You prepare lectures, lead seminars, and grade papers across a semester that moves faster than it looks from the outside. Research and writing for publication runs alongside teaching, often in the evenings and summers. Office hours, committee work, and advising students fill the remaining hours. The classroom discussions are the part most people find worthwhile; the grading is the part that takes the most time.

Researched from American Historical Association, H-Net, The Journal of American History, r/AskHistorians, Organization of American Historians

A day in the life of History Teachers, Postsecondary

People interaction
Extensive
Team vs solo
60% Team / 40% Solo
Client facing
Sometimes
Impact visibility
Moderate
Travel
Minimal
Schedule flexibility
Flexible
Remote work
On-site Only
Typical work hours
40-50
Stress level
Moderate

History Teachers, Postsecondary salary, education and outlook at a glance

Median salary
$83,820
Direct occupation
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 National OEWS · SOC 25-1125.00
Entry-level
$48,410
Senior
$162,160
Growth by 2033
-0.2%
Demand
Stable
Freelance potential
Moderate
10th-to-90th percentile pay range
235% from entry to senior
Typical student debt
Very High

Skills you need as History Teachers, Postsecondary

Hard skills

  • History and Archeology
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Web platform development software

Soft skills

  • Learning Strategies
  • Instructing
  • Speaking

Technical complexity: Low

Tools History Teachers, Postsecondary use

Core tools

  • Canvas/Blackboard (LMS) (Software): To deliver course content, manage assignments, and facilitate student communication.
  • JSTOR/Project MUSE (Service): To access scholarly articles, journals, and primary sources for research and teaching.
  • Microsoft PowerPoint/Google Slides (Software): To create and deliver engaging lectures and visual aids for classroom instruction.

Commonly used

  • Zotero/EndNote (Software): To organize research materials and generate bibliographies in various academic styles.
  • Zoom/Google Meet (Software): To conduct online classes, hold virtual office hours, and facilitate remote collaboration.

Specialist tools

  • Library of Congress Digital Collections (Platform): To access digitized historical documents, images, and recordings for teaching and research.

How to become History Teachers, Postsecondary

Minimum education
Doctoral or Professional Degree
Licensing
No professional license required
Yes, while there is no single regulatory license, higher education hiring typically requires a doctoral degree for tenure-track roles and institutional credentialing; adjuncts and instructors may have different credential expectations.
Years to mid-career
5-9
Years to senior
15-25
Career switching
Moderate

Where History Teachers, Postsecondary come from

  • High School History Teacher: Transitioning from secondary education to postsecondary involves a shift in teaching methodology and research focus.
  • Archivist: Archivists possess deep knowledge of historical documents and research methods, which are valuable in academic history.
  • Museum Curator: Curators often have advanced degrees in history and experience in historical interpretation and public engagement.
  • Librarian: Librarians, especially those in academic settings, have expertise in research resources and information literacy, beneficial for history instruction.

Where History Teachers, Postsecondary go next

  • University Professor (Other Humanities): History teachers can leverage their pedagogical skills and research experience to teach in related humanities fields.
  • Academic Dean: With administrative experience and leadership skills, history teachers can advance to academic leadership roles.
  • Educational Consultant: Expertise in curriculum development and teaching strategies can be applied to consulting roles in education.
  • Historical Researcher/Author: A strong background in historical research and writing can lead to careers focused on producing historical content.
  • Public Historian: History teachers can apply their knowledge to engage with the public through museums, historical societies, or government agencies.

Typical History Teachers, Postsecondary progression

  1. Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
  2. History Teachers, Postsecondary
  3. or Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary

History Teachers, Postsecondary job outlook and future demand

Automation probability
0.9343
AI disruption risk
High
Demand trend
Stable

Job satisfaction as History Teachers, Postsecondary

Overall satisfaction
7.2/10
Meaning
8.5/10
Work-life balance
7.5/10
Prestige
7.5/10
Social perception
High

Where History Teachers, Postsecondary find community

Professional organisations

Podcasts and media

Reddit communities

  • r/AskHistorians: A subreddit where professional historians answer questions about history.

Online communities

  • H-Net: An international interdisciplinary organization of scholars and teachers that creates and coordinates Internet networks with the common goal of advancing teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences.

Questions people ask about History Teachers, Postsecondary

What do History Teachers, Postsecondary get paid?

Pay for History Teachers, Postsecondary starts around $48,410 at entry level, reaches $83,820 at the median and climbs to $162,160 for the most experienced.

What qualifications do History Teachers, Postsecondary need?

Most employers look for a Doctoral or Professional Degree, no professional license required and reaching mid-career takes about 5-9 years.

Can History Teachers, Postsecondary work remotely?

The work happens on site. Location-dependent: many institutions offer online or hybrid teaching options, but in-person seminars, labs, and office hours still require on-campus presence at least part-time.

Is demand for History Teachers, Postsecondary growing?

Projections put employment growth at -0.2% through 2033, with demand rated Stable. Little or no change in overall demand with steady needs for instructors, but tenure-track positions are competitive; community colleges and adjunct roles have different demand dynamics than research universities.

Are History Teachers, Postsecondary at risk from automation?

This work carries a high risk of disruption from AI. Moderate automation risk as AI tools can assist with grading and content discovery, but teaching, mentorship, and original research remain primarily human activities.

Is working as History Teachers, Postsecondary stressful?

Stress is rated moderate for this work. Moderate stress from balancing teaching loads, grading, student advising, and expectations for research, publication, or curriculum development, tenure-track roles add extra pressure.

What is the difference between History Teachers, Postsecondary and an Educational Consultant?

Educational Consultant is the closest adjacent role and a common next step from History Teachers, Postsecondary: expertise in curriculum development and teaching strategies can be applied to consulting roles in education.

What does a typical day look like for History Teachers, Postsecondary?

You prepare lectures, lead seminars, and grade papers across a semester that moves faster than it looks from the outside.

How hard is it to switch into History Teachers, Postsecondary from another career?

Switching into this work from another career is rated moderate. The entry requirement of a Doctoral or Professional Degree sets the floor for anyone coming from another field.

Do History Teachers, Postsecondary need a professional license?

No professional license required. Yes, while there is no single regulatory license, higher education hiring typically requires a doctoral degree for tenure-track roles and institutional credentialing; adjuncts and instructors may have different credential expectations.

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