<p>Does a person have to get a regular teaching degree along with majoring in math to become a math professor? Son is not sure if he wants to go for a secondary school teaching degree but is interested in becoming a math professor.</p>
<p>I'm a little confused, does he want to teach in a middle or high school (math teacher) or in a college or university (math professor)?</p>
<p>The latter needs a PhD, not a teaching credential.</p>
<p>Good morning.</p>
<p>My husband is a tenured full professor of mathematics at USC. He received his PhD from MIT. He does not have a secondary teaching certificate. However, in getting his PhD he served as a Teaching Assistant which had some kind of required training (I didn't get the impression it was a lot.) It's been awhile now, but if I recall correctly some of the other places he was applying to and/or considered for tenure track jobs included UW-Madison, Boston U, LSU, and similar.</p>
<p>Obviously I can't answer for all the universities but this gives you an idea. Yu may want to check out at the community college level to see if this is different.</p>
<p>Son is a sophomore and is now thinking that teaching in a high school may not be for him but may want to become a college professor in math in the future.</p>
<p>I mean he is a sophomore in college.</p>
<p>"Teaching" degrees -- degrees in education -- are intended for those going into elementary and secondary education. To teach at the college level, one usually needs a PhD in the subject matter, and you will always need one for a tenured position. But sometimes you only need a masters degree if you are teaching at a community college or as adjunct faculty at a lower tier school.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies. I told him that he better talk to his math professors and advisors and figure out what he wants to do because he only has a couple of weeks to decide which way to go.</p>
<p>This book will be helpful: </p>
<p>You guys are great! Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Here's an update. We are getting that book. Talked to son again tonight and he is filling out application for the College of Education at his university and was just considering other options. I think part of it was that friends (who have changed majors several times) were suggesting other careers for him, like actuary and accountant, even while we were on the phone! So he is back to becoming a high school math teacher for now.</p>
<p>That book is not for people who want to become high school math teachers. That book is for mathematics students who want to get a PhD and jump into a university professor.</p>
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Son is not sure if he wants to go for a secondary school teaching degree but is interested in becoming a math professor.
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So he is back to becoming a high school math teacher for now.
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<p>This two statements don't seem to fit the same goal. I take it he is still making up his mind.</p>
<p>Yep, he is still making up his mind. I do realize that this book is for people who want to become professors but we will see what the future brings. He still is young. I really appreciate the help from all.</p>
<p>For everyone I confused:
Son is a math major and wanted to become a high school math teacher. Then he wanted to know about becoming a math professor. Now he has decided to keep with his original plans for becoming a high school math teacher and maybe continue his education to become a professor at a later date. Please forgive me for not being clear. Anyway, I have all the info I need and good night.</p>
<p>Here is the gist of becoming a math professor at a good research university (a top 40 ranked math grad program). You pretty much need to have attended a top 20 if not top 10 university. Every year there are at least 100 PhD graduates and maybe 10-20 tenure track professor positions opening up every year.</p>
<p>Becoming a professor is about as competitive of a job as there is. It is insanely difficult to get a job as a professor at a top 25 university. Just look up faculty lists at good math programs and they dominated by professors from Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan, you get the picture.</p>
<p>shyanne, if your son wants to teach high school math and later go on to get a Ph.D. and teach in college, you should be aware that going from teaching high school math to applying to a Ph.D. program is very difficult as opposed to applying to graduate school out of undergrad.</p>
<p>First of all, he will have to retake the GRE Math, so in order to perform well, he will have to stay fresh on his Abstract Algebra and Differential Geometry while teaching High School Algebra and Elementary Geometry. Moreover, I would suggest that he continue to try to do research and publish during the summer at least, since he will be in trouble if he has not done any research over the past few years and has nothing good to write in his personal (research) statement.</p>