How to Become a College Professor (According to REAL Professors)
How do you actually become a college professor — and who really makes it?
In this episode of Unknown Variables, I talk with four professors who recently landed faculty positions across a range of institutions — from teaching-focused universities to research-active campuses — to unpack what the path to academia really looks like.
You’ll hear from:
- A first-generation scholar who didn’t even realize “professor” was a career option (Yale University)
- A biologist who transitioned from the humanities into science (Georgia College)
- A faculty member who bypassed the traditional postdoc route (Towson University)
- A professor who applied to dozens of schools to land their position (Appalachian State University)
Together, we break down the real decisions that shape academic careers: choosing advisors, navigating impostor syndrome, R1 vs R2 vs teaching-focused roles, geographic constraints, mentorship, burnout, and the advice they wish they’d been given earlier.
If you’re an undergraduate, graduate student, postdoc, or early-career researcher wondering whether academia is for you — or how to survive the path if it is — this conversation pulls back the curtain on the many hidden routes to becoming a professor.
