Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses in psychology, such as child, clinical, and developmental psychology, and psychological counseling. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

The occupation "Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary" has a moderate automation risk of 44.1%, with a base risk assessed at 44.8%. This risk percentage reflects the likelihood that certain aspects of the role can be replaced or assisted by artificial intelligence or other automation technologies. The major driver behind this risk is the presence of routine tasks that are well-suited for automation, such as preparing and delivering lectures, moderating classroom discussions, and evaluating or grading student work and assignments. Advances in educational technology, including AI-powered grading systems, virtual classrooms, and pre-recorded lectures, have made it increasingly feasible to automate these components of postsecondary instruction, thereby reducing the reliance on human teachers for repetitive or standardized instructional tasks. Despite the potential for automation in instructional delivery and assessment, several core responsibilities of psychology professors remain highly resistant to automation. Notably, providing professional consulting services to government or industry requires expert insight, nuanced judgment, and the ability to synthesize complex psychological knowledge with real-world applications—skills that current automation systems cannot fully replicate. Participation in campus and community events, as well as advising student organizations, rely heavily on interpersonal skills, adaptability, and the ability to foster meaningful human connections. These roles involve unscripted human interaction, context-sensitive decision-making, and emotional intelligence, all of which present significant "bottlenecks" for automation and make these aspects of the job difficult for machines to undertake. Bottleneck skills that help resist automation in this occupation include originality, with scores of 3.1% and 3.4%. Originality refers to the capacity to develop new ideas, approaches, or solutions, and is fundamental to both effective teaching and professional consulting. In psychology instruction, originality is crucial not only for engaging students through innovative teaching methods but also for adapting coursework to reflect recent advances in the field and diverse student needs. Such creative problem-solving and adaptability are difficult to codify into programmable logic, offering a significant shield against automation. As long as the role continues to require high levels of originality and uniquely human skills in mentorship and consulting, the complete automation of postsecondary psychology teaching is unlikely, even if routine instructional and grading tasks become increasingly automated.