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College Professors Have Least Stressful Job In America, CareerCast.com Says

Professors Apparently Have Least Stressful Job In America
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Senior Editor/Reporter, The Huffington Post

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College professors have the least stressful job in America, beating out seamstresses, according to a new ranking from CareerCast.com, and it's causing a lot of outrage online.

As more high school graduates enter universities, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts professors to be an occupation that will only become more in demand. CareerCast.com noted some of the top ranked universities in the U.S. pay their full-time professors a hefty salary, though an advanced degree is usually required:

Harvard University pays full-time professors $198,400, with a 7:1 professor-to-student ratio, while University of Chicago professors receive $197,800 per year with a 6:1 ratio. Among public universities, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is highest paying, with an average wage of $162,600 for its full-time staff

Susan Adams at Forbes made the case for why profs have the easy life:

University professors have a lot less stress than most of us. Unless they teach summer school, they are off between May and September, and they enjoy long breaks during the school year, including a month over Christmas and New Year’s and another chunk of time in the spring. Even when school is in session, they don’t spend too many hours in the classroom. For tenure-track professors, there is some pressure to publish books and articles, but deadlines are few. Working conditions tend to be cozy and civilized, and there are minimal travel demands, except perhaps a non-mandatory conference or two. As for compensation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for professors is $62,000, not a huge amount of money but enough to live on, especially in a university town.

People in the higher education community have a different take, as displayed on Twitter:

Responding to the criticism, Adams issued a lengthy addendum highlighting commenters' outraged responses, pointing out 80-hour work weeks, additional tasks related to peer reviews, work related to publishing and time spent advising dozens of students.

Forbes even published a rebuttal to Adams on its own website from contributor David Kroll who said "I was extremely surprised and, frankly, disappointed that Adams would write such a misguided article." Kroll then laid out 10 reasons why being a college professor is a stressful job.

For more rebuttals from college professors, there's a healthy amount of posts on Twitter using the hashtag #RealForbesProfessors.

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Before You Go

Least Stressful Jobs Of 2013
5. Medical Laboratory Technician(01 of05)
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Median Salary: $46,680These are specially trained technicians who deal with lab tests (blood tests, urine tests, etc.) and data from those samples.Due to the critical importance of getting the analyses of these tests right, there isn't a lot of pressure."They're given the latitude to do the job at their own pace because it's important that they get it right," Lee said.Read the full list at CNBC. (credit:Shutterstock)
4. Jeweler(02 of05)
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Median Salary: $35,170"Jewelers tend to be self-employed and work in an environment where they're given a lot of flexibility and leeway," Lee said. "Because they have an expertise, they're given the bandwidth to make their own decisions about how they manage their workday," Lee said.Not to mention, you're surrounded by pretty, sparkly things all day, and you get a lot of "thank yous" for helping people pick out pretty, sparkly things!Read the full list at CNBC. (credit:Shutterstock)
3. Medical Records Technician(03 of05)
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Median Salary: $32,350These are technicians – not administrative assistants – who are specially trained to deal with medical records. Making sure patient files are updated, given to the correct people, etc.Like the lab work, this is a critical job that you don't want to mess up, so they're given more room to move at their own pace. Plus, it's a 9-to-5 job."You walk in to work, you turn it on. You walk out, you turn it off," Lee said. "It's not like something's going to weigh on you and keep you from sleeping!"Read the full list at CNBC. (credit:Shutterstock)
2. Seamstress/Tailor(04 of05)
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Median Salary: $25,850The big advantage here is time flexibility. People bring things in, and the seamstress or tailor tells them when it will be ready."Most seamstresses and tailors are independent business people, so that means they're in control of their day," Lee said. "If they want to take off early see their kids play, if they want to not work and go fishing, they can do that and take a little bit longer to get things done."Of course, you also get a lot of "thank yous" for repairing or tailoring clothing to fit better.And, like the librarian with the books, you have an added bonus – clothes don't talk back!Read the full list at CNBC. (credit:Shutterstock)
1. University Professor(05 of05)
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Median Salary: $62,050And the winner of Least Stressful Job of 2013 is … university professor!(Cue the commencement music.)Professor is a newcomer to the list this year, and it shot straight to the top."If you look at the criteria for stressful jobs, things like working under deadlines, physical demands of the job, environmental conditions hazards, is your life at risk, are you responsible for the life of someone else, they rank like 'zero' on pretty much all of them!" Lee said.Plus, they're in total control. They teach as many classes as they want and what they want to teach. They tell the students what to do and reign over the classroom. They are the managers of their own stress level.The most stressful thing about being a professor?"Interacting with other professors!" Lee said.Read the full list at CNBC. (credit:Shutterstock)
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