Education, Training, and Library · Holland code SIA

Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach languages and literature courses in languages other than English. Includes teachers of American Sign Language (ASL). Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Also called: French Professor, Professor, Spanish Instructor, Spanish Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Foreign Languages Professor, German Professor.

O*NET 25-1124.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $79,350; Middle half earn $62,510 to $102,730. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Doctoral Degree; 73% 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.

Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as how to speak and write a foreign language and the cultural aspects of areas where a particular language is used.
Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in scholarly journals, books, or electronic media.
Keep abreast of developments in their field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional organizations and activities.
Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Learning Strategies4.0 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Foreign Language5.0 / 5
English Language4.4 / 5
Education and Training4.1 / 5
History and Archeology3.3 / 5
Philosophy and Theology3.3 / 5
Sociology and Anthropology3.1 / 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.

Realistic18
Investigative59
Artistic51
Social100
Enterprising25
Conventional42

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)

linguistics lecturer · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Sprachwissenschaften · FR enseignant-chercheur en linguistique/enseignante-chercheuse en linguistique
modern languages lecturer · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Moderne Sprachen · FR enseignant-chercheur en langues étrangères/enseignante-chercheuse en langues étrangères
university literature lecturer · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Literaturwissenschaft · FR enseignant-chercheur en littérature/enseignante-chercheuse en littérature
classical languages lecturer · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Klassische Philologie · FR enseignant-chercheur en lettres classiques/enseignante-chercheuse en lettres classiques
modern languages teacher secondary school · DE Lehrkraft für Lebende Sprachen Sekundarstufe · FR professeur de langues vivantes/professeure de langues vivantes
classical languages teacher secondary school · DE Lehrkraft für Alte Sprachen Sekundarstufe · FR professeur de langues anciennes/professeure de langues anciennes

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Secondary education teaching professionals (2313)504,100 employed
Teachers of English as a foreign language (2317)27,800 employed
Higher education teaching professionals (2311)258,500 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.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
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 +1.33. 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 (25-1124).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test