Can a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree become a professor?
This is what we seek to discuss. It’s normal for academics to want to reach the pinnacles of their various professions.
So, if you wish to obtain an Ed.D. degree anytime soon, it will be great to know if it offers any path for further advancement.
Becoming a Professor With an Ed.D.
When it comes to attaining lofty professional and career goals, a professorship is one of many distinguished ranks one can reach.
A professor is a teacher of the highest rank in a college or university. While that is true, it’s only possible to attain such status in a particular branch of learning.
Now there are many paths to becoming a professor.
These require varying educational qualifications. It starts with a bachelor’s or first degree to the doctorate level before being awarded the professorship title.
Types of Professors
Before answering whether you can become a professor with an Ed.D., it’s necessary to consider the types of academic roles.
These include instructor & lecturer, community college professor, adjunct professor, assistant professor, and associate professor.
There’s also the full professor. As a full professor, you’re considered an expert in your field. These roles are reserved for senior-level academics promoted from associate professorship positions.
As a full professor, you will likely have a national and international reputation.
This is in addition to long-established track records of success in research, teaching, community service, and publication.
Having identified these different roles, it’s time to delve further into the discussion’s main focus: becoming a professor with an Ed.D. degree.
You can become a Professor with an Ed.D. Degree.
With an Ed.D. degree, there are no limitations to becoming a professor.
A Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree allows you to choose a variety of scholarly roles in subject-specific fields and education.
Each of these fields or specializations has its unique requirements. Before we get into that, we must focus on the general path to becoming a professor with an Ed.D.
Attaining this professional rank in education requires earning a master’s degree, gathering workplace experience, and accruing college-level teaching experience.
Also crucial to this process to obtain a doctorate (Ed.D.) in an educational field. Armed with this degree, you’ll need to proceed to apply for assistant professor positions in your specialized area or field.
These are tenure-tracked.
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Further Steps on Becoming a Professor with an Ed.D.
With a steady climb, you are on your way to becoming a full professor.
Here, with an assistant professor role, you’ll need to be a good teacher while publishing peer-reviewed research articles and books. Building a record of administrative service is also essential.
Pass the tenure review to become a tenured associate professor. As a tenured associate professor, you’re almost on the verge of attaining your goals.
This places you in a more secure position, especially where promotions are involved.
After six years of being an associate professor and engaging in research & service as well as teaching, you’re now qualified to apply for a full academic role.
It’s important to state that your first-time application for this role doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be accepted.
Here, you’ll need to take some time before applying again. This can eventually clinch you the role of a full professor. While that is true, not everyone is necessarily interested in going all the way.
For some, the role of an associate professor will suffice.
Professorial roles you can hold with an Ed.D.
Most of our discussion has been on answering the critical question of whether you can become a professor with an Ed.D. degree.
While we’ve provided answers, it’s necessary to provide further details on the academic roles you can hold with such degrees.
For ease of understanding, we’ll categorize these roles as faculty jobs in subject-specific fields and faculty jobs in education.
In the case of the former, such roles include professor of nursing/nursing education, professor of special education, professor of educational psychology, and professor of counseling or counselor education.
On the other hand, some professorial roles for faculty jobs in education include professor of educational leadership & administration.
Others include professors of instructional technology & design, professors of higher education, and professors of curriculum & instruction.
You may also be interested in holding an academic role in adult education & distance learning and as a professor of teacher education. There are several roles you can take up with an Ed.D.
However, as stated earlier, each area requires specific minimum qualifications.
Professorial Requirements with an Ed.D. Degree
Having an Ed.D. degree doesn’t automatically qualify you to become a professor. For each of the roles mentioned, there are specific requirements you must meet.
To better illustrate this point, let’s look at a few.
i. Professor of Teacher Education
If you must become a professor of teaching education, you’ll first need to hold an Ed.D. in Education or a related field. A Ph.D. is also accepted.
However, we aren’t looking at that. In addition to having an Ed.D., you’ll need to possess minimum teaching experience spanning 3 to 5 years.
Such experience should be in a PK-12 setting. Candidates must teach undergraduate & graduate courses in the College of Education.
Lastly, you should be able to demonstrate an appreciable level of commitment to original research.
ii. Professor of Adult Education & Distance Learning
You can become a professor of adult education & distance learning with an Ed.D. by meeting specific basic requirements. Asides from holding an Ed.D., you’ll need to provide proof of university teaching experience in face-to-face and online classes.
Additional requirements include a commitment to teaching undergraduate & graduate courses in relevant fields.
Examples of such relevant fields will include self-directed learning, community college leadership, as well as adult literacy.
iii. Professor of Curriculum Instruction
With an Ed.D. degree, you can also become a professor of curriculum instruction if you need the base requirements.
These include a minimum of 3 years of teaching experience, the ability to advise, teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students, and participation in field experiences, amongst others.
Yes! You can become a professor with an Ed.D. We’ve shown you the different ways you can do this. All you have to do is follow all the necessary processes to attain your goal.
