How do you become a college professor?

Most people picture one route: a PhD, then a job teaching. The professors here describe a longer road with more forks.

Tessa West applied for faculty jobs straight out of grad school. Vanessa Bohns did a postdoc to move from psychology into organizational behavior. Jeff Bussgang and Shikhar Ghosh came to Harvard Business School after years of building companies.

Their answers cover the academic track, tenure, and the other ways in.

Who you should listen to

Seven professors at Harvard, NYU, and Cornell. Most took the PhD route. Jeff Bussgang and Shikhar Ghosh came from running companies, and Tom Eisenmann from a decade at McKinsey.

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  Tom Eisenmann · Professor at Harvard Business School and co-chair of HBS Foundry

  Listen for: The odds at each stage, and what tenure asks of you.

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  Tessa West · Professor of Psychology at NYU who studies how people communicate at work

  Listen for: Whether to do a postdoc first.

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  Vanessa Bohns · Social psychologist and Chair of Organizational Behavior at Cornell ILR

  Listen for: Using a postdoc to change fields.

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  Jeff Bussgang · General Partner at Flybridge Capital and professor at Harvard Business School

  Listen for: Getting in as an Executive in Residence.

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  Shikhar Ghosh · Teaches entrepreneurship at HBS, where he developed the Founder's Journey course

  Listen for: When an operating record counts as the credential.

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  Shai Bernstein · Professor at Harvard Business School focused on entrepreneurial finance and innovation

  Listen for: A standard track, from PhD to tenure.

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  Ellen Langer · Social psychologist at Harvard who has researched mindfulness for over 45 years

  Listen for: Why the path is less fixed than it looks.

How did these professors become professors?

Tom Eisenmann

Professor at Harvard Business School and co-chair of HBS Foundry

Author of Why Startups Fail

Why themNames the failure patterns that threaten startups.

Tom’s advice: It's a tournament: maybe one in three PhD applicants get a shot, and one in four assistant professors make tenure.

“I came to HBS after a decade at McKinsey, and the path is a tournament: maybe one in three PhD applicants get a shot, and only one in four assistant professors make tenure. I nearly didn't survive my first few years here, so the credential is less the degree than proving you can keep producing research and teaching that holds up.”

Go deeper with Tom

Tessa West

Professor of Psychology at NYU who studies how people communicate at work

Author of Jerks at Work

Why themResearch-based advice on difficult coworkers and job decisions.

Tessa’s advice: Straight from PhD to faculty, or a postdoc first; ask people in your field which fits.

“I got my BA at UC Santa Barbara, my PhD in social psychology at UConn, and then I applied for faculty jobs straight out of grad school. In my field, you either get hired right after the PhD or do a postdoc first, and the only way to know which path fits your area is to ask people already in it.”

Go deeper with Tessa

Vanessa Bohns

Social psychologist and Chair of Organizational Behavior at Cornell ILR

Author of You Have More Influence Than You Think

Why themExplains why asking, saying no, and speaking up feel so hard.

Vanessa’s advice: A PhD, a postdoc to switch fields, then two assistant professor jobs.

“I got here by doing a PhD at Columbia, then a postdoc at Rotman to shift from psychology into organizational behavior, then assistant professor jobs at Waterloo and Cornell. The path is less straight than the CV makes it look.”

Go deeper with Vanessa

Jeff Bussgang

General Partner at Flybridge Capital and professor at Harvard Business School

Teaches zero-to-one entrepreneurship

Why themGives feedback from both the classroom and the investor side.

Jeff’s advice: The side door: practice-oriented schools hire people who have done the thing.

“I came in through the side door: after my second startup exit, I started as an Executive in Residence at HBS, then became a senior lecturer. For a research-driven tenure-track job you need a PhD and publications; for a practice-oriented business school role, they hire people who have actually done the thing and can teach it.”

Go deeper with Jeff

Shikhar Ghosh

Teaches entrepreneurship at HBS, where he developed the Founder's Journey course

Founded or led 8 tech companies

Why themClear on unit economics and the jump from 0 to 1 to 10.

Shikhar’s advice: He came from two decades running companies; his operating record was the credential.

“I came to HBS after two decades of building and running companies, not through a traditional academic track. For me, the credential that mattered was the operating record: what I had actually built, lost, and learned.”

Go deeper with Shikhar

Shai Bernstein

Professor at Harvard Business School focused on entrepreneurial finance and innovation

Studies venture capital

Why themBrings research on how investors shape young companies.

Shai’s advice: PhD at Harvard, eight years at Stanford GSB, then tenure at HBS in 2022.

“I earned my PhD in Business Economics at Harvard, spent eight years on the faculty at Stanford GSB, and then moved to Harvard Business School, where I went up for tenure and was promoted to professor in 2022.”

Go deeper with Shai

Ellen Langer

Social psychologist at Harvard who has researched mindfulness for over 45 years

First woman tenured in Harvard Psychology

Why themChallenges common assumptions about health, aging, and happiness.

Ellen’s advice: Keep doing the work you care about until someone pays you for it.

“I went to NYU for psychology, then got my PhD at Yale, and I came to Harvard in 1977. But the path is less fixed than people think: I became a professor because I kept doing the work I cared about and someone eventually paid me for it.”

Go deeper with Ellen

Everyone’s advice at a glance

How to become a college professor, step by step

1. 1

   Get a PhD for a research job. Jeff Bussgang says a tenure-track research job needs a PhD and publications. Shai Bernstein, Tessa West, Vanessa Bohns, and Ellen Langer all started with one.

2. 2

   Ask whether your field expects a postdoc. Tessa West says that in her field you're hired right after the PhD or after a postdoc, and the only way to know which fits is to ask people already in it. Vanessa Bohns used a postdoc to move into organizational behavior.

3. 3

   Expect to move. Vanessa Bohns held assistant professor jobs at Waterloo and Cornell. Shai Bernstein spent eight years at Stanford GSB before Harvard Business School.

4. 4

   Plan for tenure. Tom Eisenmann estimates that one in four assistant professors make tenure, and says what counts is proving you can keep producing research and teaching that holds up.

5. 5

   Or build a record outside academia. Jeff Bussgang started at HBS as an Executive in Residence after his second startup exit. Shikhar Ghosh came after two decades of building companies. Bussgang says practice-oriented business schools hire people who have done the thing and can teach it.