What does a professor do? Children often ask good questions, and this one came from my youngest daughter while I was sitting in front of my laptop one day. Well, what does a professor actually do? I cannot speak for all professors, but in this blog post, I will reflect on some of the things I do as a professor.

A Job and a Title

In Norway, being a professor is both a job and a title. You can have the title of professor without necessarily working as a professor at a university. Retired professors keep their title even after ending their formal work life. Some people may have also been evaluated as entitled to professor competency even though they never worked as a professor.

The title “professor” is protected in Norway, similar to being “psychologist”, “lawyer”, “priest”, or “medical doctor”. That means that only people who have been evaluated as having the competency can call themselves a professor. In other languages, the term “professor” is used much more liberally. For example, in Spanish-speaking countries, I observe that “profesor” is used synonymously with “teacher.” In North American higher education, I observe that individuals working as “assistant professor” or “associate professor” often refer to themselves as “professor” (or at least “prof.”). There, it is common to refer to “full professor” as what we in Norway simply call “professor”. In Norway, only professors are professors. Our equivalents to associate professors are “førsteamanuensis,” and we don’t really have any equivalent to assistant professors, as people either work as lecturers (“universitetslektor”) or in a long-term postdoctoral fellowship (with or without teaching duties) after completing their PhD.

While some universities in Norway occasionally hire professors, it is most common to hire at the associate professor level (“førsteamanuensis”). Then, you can request an evaluation for promotion to professor at any point. Then, there is a committee that evaluates the applicant, and if found worthy, one gets promoted. This is a title change, not a job change. For all practical matters, associate professors and professors do the same job. I think the only difference is that you have to be a professor to evaluate others for promotion to the same rank. Professorship is also often expected — although not always required — for leadership positions, such as being the head of a department, dean, or rector.

Researcher

One of the criteria for becoming a professor is to be a researcher of international standing. What that means varies from field to field, but it means that one should have published regularly in international “channels”. The valued channels vary from field to field, which may make it somewhat difficult for people working across disciplines. I have previously written about three different publication cultures:

  • monograph culture (typically within the humanities)
  • journal article culture (typically within social and natural sciences)
  • paper proceedings culture (typically within computer science and engineering)

I am increasingly identifying as a radically interdisciplinary researcher, no longer knowing where I belong in the research landscape. I also publish in channels belonging to all three publication cultures. That was used against me in the past, namely that I wasn’t strategic enough in selecting publication channels that could enhance my promotional possibilities. That is also why I have become sensitive to the topic and use my power whenever I am on a committee to avoid the trap of choosing one publication over another.

Creator

The researcher’s role is often connected to answering questions and building (written) knowledge about whatever one is studying. However, many researchers, including myself, are also creators. I create audio and video content, take photos, write text, and develop software. These outputs are all integral to my research process. I also use this blog as part of my open research strategy.

Teacher

While high-level research is a requirement for becoming a researcher, teaching is a core part of a professor’s identity and job. At UiO, all professors are expected to allocate 45% of their time to research, 45% to teaching, and 10% to administrative duties. That means that around half of the time is spent on teaching. At my faculty (humanities), supervision is counted as part of teaching, arguably because students choose their own projects that may not fully align with the professor’s interests. In faculties where students are viewed more as a labour resource—and where they are assigned projects to work on by professors—supervision is done within the research time.

Supervisor

I both see supervision as a particular type of teaching but also a form of collegial “co-researching”. The classic supervisory setup is a one-to-one situation between a professor and a student. In most cases, however, I prefer to include students in my ongoing research activities and invite them to join my project meetings alongside doctoral and postdoctoral fellows. In any case, being a supervisor is both a way of teaching students the skills of research and to broaden their minds more generally. It also involves a great deal of caretaking, supporting the students during difficult periods (either personally or related to their ongoing projects).

Leader and manager

While the terms “leadership” and “management” are often used interchangeably, they represent distinct aspects of a professor’s role. Leadership is about setting a vision, inspiring others, and fostering a sense of direction and purpose within a group or institution. Management, on the other hand, focuses on the practical aspects of organizing work: planning, coordinating, budgeting, follow-up, and reporting.

Most professors end up with both leadership and management responsibilities at some point. This is based on both the institution’s needs and one’s own interests. The need is created by the fact that all institutions require a set of committees and boards, and each of these committees and boards needs leaders. Professors will likely lead one or more of these. Then there are various departmental roles, such as head of department/research/education, and more central roles, such as (vice)-deans or (vice)-rectors. All in all, there are numerous formal leadership positions at a university, many of which are (primarily) open for people who hold the professor title.

I have been in formal leadership positions since I began as Head of Department more than ten years ago. But even before that, I had been doing “informal” leadership and management for many years, building up the fourMs Lab, running seminars, workshops, conferences, and building up various networks internally and internationally.

In general, I try to minimize my time spent on management and maximize that of leadership. I see that as not only getting things done but also inspiring people to their best. I also like to spread ideas.

Innovator and entrepreneur

Universities are increasingly asked to cater to a fourth dimension, in addition to the three classic tasks (research, teaching, and dissemination): that of innovation. This is primarily driven by politicians seeking tangible (and economic) results from universities. So professors are increasingly also asked to act as innovators and even entrepreneurs. It is essential to note that these are two distinct concepts. Innovation is about developing new ideas, methods, or products. Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is about taking those innovations and turning them into viable ventures, such as starting a company.

I have been involved in some (mostly failed) “classic” innovation, filing disclosure of innovation, and starting some patent processes. I have also consulted with some startup companies set up by former students. I have discovered that this is not my thing. I am happy to support others, but I prefer to work on fundamental research issues that are far removed from direct practical applications.

However, I see myself as much more interested in innovation and entrepreneurship within a university context. This is not a topic that many discuss extensively, but I see that my work on developing the fourMs Lab and RITMO serves as examples of both innovation (conceptualization) and entrepreneurship (building the organization).

A fascinating job

All in all, being a professor is both a challenging and fascinating job. It is certainly not for everyone. We generally work significantly more than the average person and have to deal with a multitude of tasks every day. What drives us is the curiosity of discovering new things (including new questions!), witnessing students grow during their studies, and sharing our knowledge with the rest of the world. Over the last years, I have also increasingly been inspired by the innovation and entrepreneurship possibilities within the institution.