Associate professor

For broader coverage of this topic, see Professor.

Associate professor

Socrates, one of the earliest recorded professors.
Occupation
Names	Professor
Occupation type	Profession
Activity sectors	Academics
Description
Competencies	Academic knowledge, teaching
Education required	Typically a doctoral degree and additional academic qualifications
Fields of employment	Academics
Related jobs	Researcher

Associate professor (frequently capitalized as Associate Professor) is an academic title that can have different meanings. In North America and universities elsewhere using the North American system, it is a position between assistant professor and a full professorship. In some Commonwealth countries, the title associate professor is often used in place of reader, which is used in the United Kingdom and a number of other Commonwealth universities; this usage is typical of universities in Australia and New Zealand, as well as in South Africa, parts of Southeast Asia and other countries. The title associate professor in those countries, like the title reader, corresponds to a full professorship in North America.

Overview

Traditional system

The table presents a broad overview of the traditional main systems, but there are universities which use a combination of those systems or other titles. Some universities in Commonwealth countries have also entirely adopted the North American system in place of the Commonwealth system.

North American system	Commonwealth system
Professor (higher tier, including Distinguished Professor or equivalent)	Professor
Professor	Reader (mainly UK) or Associate Professor (mainly Australia, NZ, South Africa and Southeast Asia)
Associate professor	Senior Lecturer or Principal Lecturer
Assistant professor	Lecturer

Adoption of American titles by Commonwealth universities

Increasingly, some universities in Commonwealth countries have adopted the American hierarchy of titles.

The University of Western Australia, for example, adopted the American system in 2009; those who until then held the title lecturer received the new title assistant professor, previous senior lecturers received the new title associate professor, previous associate professors under the old system received the new title professor, and previous professors under the old system received the new title Winthrop professor. Under this methodology the titles correspond in the following way:

Old titles	New titles
Professor	A higher/named professorship (e.g. "Winthrop Professor")
Reader or Associate Professor	Professor
Senior Lecturer	Associate Professor
Lecturer	Assistant Professor