Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses in the agricultural sciences. Includes teachers of agronomy, dairy sciences, fisheries management, horticultural sciences, poultry sciences, range management, and agricultural soil conservation. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

The occupation "Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary" has an automation risk of 42.7%, which is very close to its base risk of 43.5%. This moderate risk reflects that while certain responsibilities within this profession may be automated, many core tasks remain resistant to full automation. The role blends both instructional duties and academic mentorship, requiring nuanced understanding and adaptability that machines currently struggle to replicate. In recent years, advances in education technology, such as adaptive learning platforms and virtual teaching assistants, have increased the potential for automating certain aspects of teaching, grading, and information dissemination. However, the need for human judgment, communication, and mentorship continues to limit the scope of complete automation in this field. Among the most automatable tasks in this occupation are activities that revolve around information gathering and standard advising processes. Tasks such as keeping abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences, as well as advising students on academic and vocational curricula, are increasingly supported by AI-driven tools and platforms that aggregate information and provide recommendations. Additionally, supervising undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work can be partially automated through intelligent tracking and reporting systems. These areas tend to involve structured processes and informational exchanges, making them more susceptible to automation technologies that can handle routine management, scheduling, and monitoring. Conversely, some tasks remain highly resistant to automation due to their demand for complex human decision-making and interpersonal skills. Performing administrative duties, such as serving as department head, requires leadership, negotiation, and emotional intelligence that current AI systems cannot adequately emulate. Compiling bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments often demands deep subject matter expertise and contextual understanding, making it difficult for machines to curate nuanced and relevant resources without human oversight. Providing professional consulting services to government or industry further requires tailored expertise, original thought, and problem-solving skill. Bottleneck skills such as originality, rated at 3.1% and 3.8%, underscore that generating new ideas and innovative solutions—essential components of teaching and research—remain significant hurdles for automation in this occupation.