The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 25-1032.00 · Job Zone 5

AI exposure: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses pertaining to the application of physical laws and principles of engineering for the development of machines, materials, instruments, processes, and services. Includes teachers of subjects such as chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, mechanical, mineral, and petroleum engineering. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Reading this score

computed

44.9% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary at the 81th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.7 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.

What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 24 tasks it averages 1.79 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Review manuscripts for professional journals, at 91.1%. The least is Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies,..., at 0.0%. A gap of 91.1% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within educational instruction and library occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 62 roles in the group is 41.9%, and only 11 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.

What would move this score. Of 24 tasks, 17 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 7 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

24 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Review manuscripts for professional journals.91.1%8.9%0.0%2.92exposed
Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.86.7%13.3%0.0%3.95exposed
Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.80.0%20.0%0.0%2.58exposed
Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.38exposed
Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.27exposed
Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.70.0%17.5%12.5%4.49exposed
Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.66.7%33.3%0.0%3.81exposed
Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction.64.2%23.3%12.5%3.83exposed
Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and laboratory equipment.55.0%20.0%25.0%3.44exposed
Participate in campus and community events.55.0%20.0%25.0%2.83exposed
Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.47.5%27.5%25.0%3.45exposed
Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.45.0%30.0%25.0%4.28exposed
Provide professional consulting services to government or industry.45.0%30.0%25.0%2.73exposed
Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.40.0%35.0%25.0%3.77exposed
Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.40.0%35.0%25.0%3.41exposed
Act as advisers to student organizations.40.0%35.0%25.0%2.78exposed
Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.38.5%28.1%33.3%3.96exposed
Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.27.5%10.0%62.5%4.22untouched
Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.22untouched
Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as mechanics, hydraulics, and robotics.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.18untouched
Initiate, facilitate, and moderate class discussions.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.10untouched
Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head.8.3%16.7%75.0%3.24untouched
Supervise students' laboratory work.6.7%18.3%75.0%4.07untouched
Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.20untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability2.670-4
Embodiment0.400-3
Presence1.310-3
Accountability0.830-3
Context1.790-3
Verification cost1.330-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.