How long it takes for psychology faculty to advance

• New collaborative research between APA’s Center for Workforce Studies and Academic Analytics suggests that nine years is the median time it takes to become an associate professor after earning a doctoral degree in psychology.¹
• It takes an additional seven years, or a median of 16 years total, to become a full professor after completing a psychology doctoral degree.
• Faculty in general psychology and clinical psychology programs, as well as those in a catchall “various” programs category,² took the longest to advance. Those working in school psychology and educational psychology advanced the fastest.
• The additional one to two years for some programs could be due to postdoctoral training, and the overall patterns likely reflect the structure of the tenure system, which typically requires promotion to associate professor in seven years.

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