Preparing the New Professoriate: What Courses Should They Be Ready to Teach?

We examined job advertisements published in the September and October 2006 issues of the APA Monitor and APS Observer for courses that psychology departments requested successful applicants for assistant professor openings to teach. We found that 4 courses accounted for 45% of all courses so listed: research methods, introductory psychology, developmental psychology, and statistics. We suggest that graduate students seeking academic positions acquire experience teaching these classes, in addition to courses in their specialty area, during their teaching training. Such experience would seem likely to offer them a competitive edge in the academic job market.