SOC 25-9044

Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary AI displacement risk

Graduate teaching assistants lead discussion sections, run labs, and grade mountains of undergraduate work. AI grading and feedback tools target exactly the grading portion — the most compressible part of the assistantship — while leading a live section and mentoring students stays human.

Exposure56

Share and intensity of work current AI systems can materially affect.

Automation30%

Likely potential for exposed tasks to move to software after workflow integration.

Risk bandModerate

Distinct from K-12 teaching assistants: this is apprenticeship for academia, funded by the teaching. AI absorbs grading hours, which departments may convert into fewer assistantships — the honest risk — or into more instructional contact time.

Distribution

Where Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary sits across 620 tracked roles

Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary · 42050100

Displacement pressure 42 — higher than 70% of the 620 occupations tracked on displacement.ai.

Score version

This page uses Seed model v0.4 (seed-v0.4-2026-05), last reviewed 2026-08-15. Directional occupation-level planning model using hand-reviewed public research, task exposure estimates, wage context, and transition-pathway assumptions.

20 O*NET task statements matched to SOC 25-9044. The displayed task profile combines these official task statements with the current public score model.

Median wage context: $42,910 (May 2025, US national). The latest BLS row matched SOC 25-9044.

Scores are planning signals, not forecasts. Local hiring demand, employer-specific workflows, licensing, and credentials must be validated before making career decisions.

2030 economic stress test

How Anthropic's scenarios classify Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

SOC 25-9044 places this role in the paper's cognitive occupation group. These group-level outcomes do not change the 42/100 role score and are not an occupation forecast.

Modest change

+0.4% group wage

-0.5% cognitive employment since mid-2026; 2.9% cognitive unemployment.

Economy-wide: +1.6% GDP and 3.9% unemployment.

Substantial change

-0.3% group wage

-3.9% cognitive employment since mid-2026; 4.5% cognitive unemployment.

Economy-wide: +8.3% GDP and 4.6% unemployment.

Extreme change

-11.5% group wage

-21.5% cognitive employment since mid-2026; 17.9% cognitive unemployment.

Economy-wide: +32.4% GDP and 11.9% unemployment.

Compare the assumptions and limitations across all three scenarios. Source: The Anthropic Institute Working Paper No. 2026-02.

Official task evidence

O*NET task matches for Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

The current evidence import matched 20 task statements from Task Statements 31.0 (August 2026). These rows are used as a grounding layer for judging which parts of the occupation are repeatable, language-heavy, analytical, social, physical, or compliance-sensitive.

Dataset31.0 (August 2026)
Matched tasks20
SOC25-9044
  • Core task / ID 10965

    Teach undergraduate-level courses.

  • Core task / ID 10956

    Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers, and record grades.

  • Core task / ID 10955

    Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections.

  • Core task / ID 10967

    Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary notes, or course Web sites.

  • Core task / ID 10959

    Inform students of the procedures for completing and submitting class work, such as lab reports.

  • Core task / ID 10957

    Return assignments to students in accordance with established deadlines.

Source: O*NET Resource Center, Task Statements. Raw import target: data/raw/onet/task-statements-31-0.txt.

Task profile

Where AI changes the work

analytical

Evaluate and grade examinations and assignments

Exposure 62, automation 38%, augmentation 62%.

O*NET evidence: Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers, and record grades. (ID 10956)

social

Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or labs

Exposure 30, automation 12%, augmentation 54%.

O*NET evidence: Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections. (ID 10955)

language

Develop teaching materials and course resources

Exposure 54, automation 29%, augmentation 64%.

O*NET evidence: Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary no... (ID 10967)

compliance

Prepare or proctor examinations

Exposure 44, automation 22%, augmentation 50%.

O*NET evidence: Prepare or proctor examinations. (ID 10960)

TaskExposureAutomationAugmentation
Evaluate and grade examinations and assignments6238%62%
Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or labs3012%54%
Develop teaching materials and course resources5429%64%
Prepare or proctor examinations4422%50%

Transition pathways

Adjacent moves that preserve existing skills

credentialed transition

Assistant Professor Track

Training horizon: 36-60 months. Skill overlap 60. Wage preservation signal 220.

  • Complete the doctorate
  • Publish research
  • Build a teaching portfolio
Moderate
role redesign

Instructional Designer

Training horizon: 6-12 months. Skill overlap 68. Wage preservation signal 140.

  • Master learning platforms
  • Design AI-aware assessments
  • Measure learning outcomes
Moderate

Comparison guides

Compare the next move before you commit

What the AI risk score means for Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

The displacement pressure score for Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary is 42. That score blends task exposure, automation pressure, augmentation potential, wage vulnerability, transition feasibility, and source confidence. It is designed to help workers and workforce teams decide where to act first, not to claim a specific date when a job will disappear.

For this role, the clearest risk pattern is visible at the task level. Evaluate and grade examinations and assignments carries 38% automation pressure, while Develop teaching materials and course resources carries 64% augmentation potential. That means the best response is usually a targeted redesign of work: move away from repeatable production tasks and toward judgment, exception handling, coordination, stakeholder context, and accountable use of AI tools.

Labor-market context and wage risk

Median wage: $42,910 (May 2025, US national). Employment context: Graduate-student role where grading automation lands first. Typical education: Enrollment in a graduate program.

Wage vulnerability is 60, while transition feasibility is 62. A high wage-vulnerability score means workers should pay close attention to salary preservation before making a move. A high transition-feasibility score means there are adjacent paths that can reuse existing skills without requiring a complete career reset.

  • Moderate displacement pressure
  • AI grading targets the core workload
  • Live sections stay human

Upskilling priorities

Skills that make this role more resilient

The safest upskilling plan starts with skills already close to the work. For Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary, the strongest near-term skill priorities are listed below. These are useful whether the goal is to stay in the role, move to a redesigned version of the role, or transition into an adjacent occupation.

Priority 1

Section facilitation

Build proof of this skill through a work sample, checklist, dashboard, case note, workflow map, or portfolio artifact tied to the transition paths on this page.

Priority 2

Assessment and grading

Build proof of this skill through a work sample, checklist, dashboard, case note, workflow map, or portfolio artifact tied to the transition paths on this page.

Priority 3

Course material development

Build proof of this skill through a work sample, checklist, dashboard, case note, workflow map, or portfolio artifact tied to the transition paths on this page.

Priority 4

Student mentoring

Build proof of this skill through a work sample, checklist, dashboard, case note, workflow map, or portfolio artifact tied to the transition paths on this page.

90-day transition plan

The most practical next step is not to wait for a layoff or a full role redesign. Use the next 90 days to create evidence that you can operate in a safer, more AI-augmented version of the work.

  1. In the first 30 days, document the repetitive tasks in your current work and identify where AI can reduce drafting, lookup, classification, or reporting time.
  2. By 60 days, complete one small project connected to Assistant Professor Track, such as complete the doctorate.
  3. By 90 days, compare internal openings and external postings for Assistant Professor Track or Instructional Designer and update your resume around measurable workflow outcomes.

FAQ

Questions about AI and Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

Will AI replace Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary?

Graduate teaching assistants lead discussion sections, run labs, and grade mountains of undergraduate work. AI grading and feedback tools target exactly the grading portion — the most compressible part of the assistantship — while leading a live section and mentoring students stays human. The better planning signal is not full replacement, but which tasks become automated, which tasks become AI-assisted, and which responsibilities still need human judgment.

Which parts of Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary work are most exposed to AI?

Evaluate and grade examinations and assignments and Develop teaching materials and course resources show the strongest automation pressure in this model. Develop teaching materials and course resources and Evaluate and grade examinations and assignments are better treated as AI-augmented work.

What should Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary learn next?

Start with Section facilitation, Assessment and grading, Course material development. The most practical adjacent paths in this model are Assistant Professor Track and Instructional Designer.

How should this score be used?

Use it as a planning signal, not a prediction. Confirm local hiring demand, wages, licensing, credentials, and employer adoption before making a career move.

Sources

Evidence trail