Education, Training, and Library · Holland code SAI
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
Teach courses in drama, music, and the arts including fine and applied art, such as painting and sculpture, or design and crafts. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
Also called: Art Professor, Music Professor, Professor, Theater Professor, Art History Professor, Art Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor.
O*NET 25-1121.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $78,620
- Middle half earn $61,620 to $103,850. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 51% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Explain and demonstrate artistic techniques.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, performances, projects, assignments, and papers.
- Prepare students for performances, exams, or assessments.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as acting techniques, fundamentals of music, and art history.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Organize performance groups and direct their rehearsals.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Speaking4.6 / 5
- Learning Strategies4.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Active Listening4.0 / 5
- Active Learning4.0 / 5
- Writing3.9 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Fine Arts4.9 / 5
- Education and Training4.7 / 5
- English Language4.3 / 5
- Communications and Media3.6 / 5
- Psychology3.4 / 5
- History and Archeology3.4 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic34
- Investigative52
- Artistic79
- Social100
- Enterprising19
- Conventional27
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- fine arts instructor · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Bildende Kunst · FR professeur des beaux-arts/professeure des beaux-arts
- music instructor · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Musik · FR professeur de musique/professeure de musique
- performing arts theatre instructor · DE Lehrkraft für Darstellende Kunst im Bereich Theater · FR professeur de théâtre/professeure de théâtre
- art studies lecturer · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Kunstgeschichte · FR enseignant-chercheur en histoire de l’art/enseignante-chercheuse en histoire de l’art
- art teacher secondary school · DE Kunsterzieher Sekundarstufe/Kunsterzieherin Sekundarstufe · FR professeur d’enseignements artistiques/professeure d’enseignements artistiques
- music teacher secondary school · DE Lehrkraft für Musik Sekundarstufe · FR professeur d’éducation musicale/professeure d’éducation musicale
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Secondary education teaching professionals (2313)504,100 employed
- Higher education teaching professionals (2311)258,500 employed
- Dancers and choreographers (3414)14,700 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.76. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-1121).
Related careers
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