# Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

> Assist faculty or other instructional staff in postsecondary institutions by performing instructional support activities, such as developing teaching materials, leading discussion groups, preparing and giving examinations, and grading examinations or papers.

- **SOC code:** 25-9044.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-25-9044-00
- **Also known as:** Graduate Assistant, Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Research Assistant (RA), Teaching Assistant (TA), Graduate Fellow, Graduate Research Assistant, Graduate Student, Graduate Student Instructor (GSI)
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Teach undergraduate-level courses.
- Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers, and record grades.
- Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections.
- Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary notes, or course Web sites.
- Inform students of the procedures for completing and submitting class work, such as lab reports.
- Return assignments to students in accordance with established deadlines.
- Prepare or proctor examinations.
- Tutor or mentor students who need additional instruction.
- Complete laboratory projects prior to assigning them to students so that any needed modifications can be made.
- Demonstrate use of laboratory equipment and enforce laboratory rules.
- Provide assistance to faculty members or staff with laboratory or field research.
- Meet with supervisors to discuss students' grades or to complete required grade-related paperwork.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Correspond with students through email to address their questions and concerns.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Education and Training _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Computers and Electronics _(knowledge)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Instructing _(transferable_skill)_
- Written Expression _(ability)_
- Speech Clarity _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Instructing _(Specialized Skill)_
- Learning Strategies _(Specialized Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Photoshop _(hot technology)_
- Google Docs _(hot technology)_
- IBM SPSS Statistics _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- SAS _(hot technology)_
- Structured query language SQL _(hot technology)_
- Blackboard Learn
- Collaborative editing software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 64th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 57th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 72nd percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 3.1% growth (About average); 24.6k annual openings; 193.6k → 199.6k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $44,930; 155,010 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-25-9044-00_