Professor a good recession job, rankings show

University professors come in at number 3, out of a total of 7,000 jobs in the US news site CNN’s Money magazine list of the best jobs to have in 2009.

The criteria were »great pay and growth prospects« among other things.

»We rated all the jobs based on quality of life, flexibility, stress, job security and personal satisfaction – as in, do you think your job makes the world a better place? On those factors college professor ranked very high,« said Donna Rosato, lead writer on the project, in an interview with Timeshighereducation.co.uk.

Rising demand

She also points out that demand is rising. Money magazine predicts a 23 per cent growth in academic jobs in the US as enrolment continues to increase.

The top spot went to the job of systems engineer, followed by medical assistant.

Long breaks, intellectual freedom

The Magazine also made a top-ten list of ‘low-stress’ jobs, where university professor once again came in at number 3.

Almost 60 pct of the professors asked, said that the job is low stress, due to »flexible scheduling and intellectual freedom that come with careers in academia.«

In addition to this, summer vacations, long holiday breaks and a high level of job security mean that life as a university professor, in the US at least, is a breeze.

luci@adm.ku.dk