Teaching has always been considered a reputed job in Indian society as it offers a stable and honorable career and income. It is regarded to be the most responsible profile because a teacher leads the future of youth and the country.
A college/university professor has a lot of responsibilities apart from teaching. If you wish to pursue your career as a college lecturer and have a strong commitment and desire for it, then you must know the details about it.
In this article, we will provide all the essential information on how to become a professor in India.
Eligibility Criteria for Professor
Competitive Exams to Become a Professor
Are Ph.D. Students Exempted from Appearing in NET/ SLET Exam?
Required Skills to Become a Professor
Duties/ Responsibilities of a Professor
Salary and Scope for Professors in India
Eligibility Criteria for Becoming a Professor in India
To become a lecturer in India, you must check:
The minimum eligibility standards
Academic degrees that are made mandatory by the UGC norms
Age limit criteria
List of competitive exams you should appear for
Below, we have elaborated all these important requirements to make you understand the lecturer eligibility criteria set by UGC for Indian universities.
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Educational Qualification Required for Professor/ Lecturer Profile
You must have a master’s degree with minimum aggregate percentage secured to be eligible for lecturer profile:
Below mentioned is the category-wise educational qualification:
| Category |
Educational Qualification |
| General |
Master’s degree with a minimum of 55% marks |
| ST/SC/OBC/PWD/Transgenders |
Master’s degree with a minimum of 50% marks |
Age Limit Criteria to Become College Professor
There are no age limit criteria set to be eligible to apply for the profile of Assistant professor. Many students choose this profession after getting prior experience, which proves to be beneficial in getting the job.
Therefore, UGC has not set any age limit for lectureship post.
You can check the detailed Lecturer Eligibility Criteria for UGC NET here.
Competitive Exams Required to Become a Professor
To pursue your career as a professor, you must appear for the competitive exams mentioned below-
1. NET (National Eligibility Test)
NET, popularly known as UGC NET, is a competitive exam conducted by NTA (National Testing Agency) to select candidates for the profile of lecturer and JRF.
To apply for this exam, you must have a master’s degree with at least 55% marks secured from a recognized university, to be eligible for this exam.
Once you clear the exam and receive the UGC NET Certificate, you can apply for Assistant Professor profile in reputed colleges and universities across the country.
2. GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)
The Graduate Aptitude Test is an All-India competitive examination conducted by the GATE Committee, which comprises faculty members from IISc Bangalore and the seven IIT’s.
You can use the GATE score to pursue PhD and, after publishing your research papers as PhD thesis you can apply for professor/lecturer post in IITs or NITs.
3. SLET (State Level Eligibility Test)
SLET is a state-level examination that is also conducted by the National Testing Agency. After clearing SLET, you will become eligible to apply and work with state-level colleges and universities.
4. CSIR NET
CSIR NET is a national level exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency. The exam is conducted in the field of science including Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Mathematical Sciences and Earth Sciences.
This exam checks the eligibility of candidates to apply for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) or Lectureship (LS).
Are PhD. Students Exempted from Appearing in NET/ SLET Exam?
As per the new guidelines, the Supreme Court of India had announced that if candidates have a PhD Degree, then they can get an exemption from applying for NET Exam.
It means you can directly apply for lecturer job in various universities with your PhD degree.
But to avail the exemption, certain conditions should be fulfilled by the candidates –
The PhD degree must be awarded through regular mode.
The research thesis done by you must be evaluated by at least two external examiners.
You must appear for viva-voce.
You should publish at least two papers based on the PhD thesis in the research journal.
Get all the important updates for NET Exams – UGC NET 2021 Notifications
9 Required Skills to Become Professor in India
Apart from fulfilling the eligibility criteria, you need to develop some set of skills to pursue a career as a college professor or lecturer.
Below, we have provided a list of required skills, prepared by our experts, to help you:
Passion for teaching.
Deep interest in the related subject.
Creativity to find innovative ideas for teaching.
Desire to learn new things.
Perfect communication.
Thorough research.
Problem-solving ability.
Time management.
Positive confidence.
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Duties/ Responsibilities of a Professor
The duties of a professor are not limited to classroom teaching and lectures. They have much more responsibilities such as supervising, advising, research, monitoring, keeping records, presentations etc.
Below mentioned are some duties and responsibilities of a professor inside and outside the classroom:
Prepare lectures, syllabus, and labs for their classes.
Grade the class assignments.
Prepare, execute, and grade the exams.
Calculate the grades of the students.
Advise the students outside the class.
Research new learning techniques and introduce them to students.
Supervise and evaluate teaching by graduates and colleagues.
Lead educational trips and attend various seminars.
Student counselling.
Supervise and help graduates in their research work.
Evaluate PhD written and oral exams.
Write proposals for funding agencies.
Draft papers for academic journal publication.
Presentations in various institutes about higher education.
Research new developments in education.
Give public lectures.
Salary and Scope for Professors in India
Professors or lecturers enjoy a good salary package in India. The salary of professors depends upon many aspects like:
Place/ Location
Type of the Organization
Experience
Usually, the monthly salary of a Professor lies between 40,000 – 90,000 INR.
In India, the Professors or Lecturers can get the highest payment from these institutes–
IITs
AIIMS
IIMs
BITs
Promotions
A professor can be promoted to the post of Chancellor as per the path mentioned below:
Professor => Senior Professor => Professor of Eminence => Dean/Director => Pro- Vice-Chancellor => Vice-Chancellor => Chancellor.
In our country, there are many cities where you can get many opportunities of getting Professor/ Lecturer Jobs. You can qualify UGC NET Lectureship and apply for the Professor’s post in these cities–
Ahmadabad, Gujarat
Bangalore, Karnataka
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Faridabad, Haryana
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal
Mumbai, Maharashtra
New Delhi
Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Pune, Maharashtra
Download UGC NET Syllabus 2023 Free PDF
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Now that you know the common questions asked and skills required for lectureship interview, we have provided some frequently asked questions by students UGC NET Lectureship interview.
Q1. How long does it take to become a college professor in India?
Ans. It may take 6-8 years for you to become a college professor. Completing graduation, post-graduation and gaining prior work experience counts up to the time for getting job as a professor.
Q2. What should I do after 12th to become a professor?
Ans. If you aspire to become a professor/lecturer after your 12th, you have to complete your under-graduate and post-graduate degree in your preferred subject and appear for UGC NET exam.
Q3. What is the salary of UGC NET qualified Assistant Professor?
Ans. Assistant Professor generally makes Rs.37,000 per month, but the salary package may vary according to the university/college.
Q4. How to become a professor in IIT and what is the salary package?
Ans. To become a professor in IIT you must have 10 years of teaching experience or research in your concerned field.
You should also have minimum 4 years of experience as an Associate professor. The minimum salary in IITs is Rs. 48,000.
Teaching profession comes with lot of responsibilities, offers good payment and an honorable status in society. So, it’s important that you carefully go through all the important details we have provided in this article on how to become a professor.
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Thank You.
