Female Professor: How to Call them? (Updated 2024)

My aunt recently retired from her job of teaching in the college. She had a great time there and never stopped sharing stories of the incidents she had in her career. One such story that caught my attention the most was when one of her students asked her what to call her as she was a female professor. I was really shocked to learn that we don’t even have a specific term for female professors. Although many believe that ‘professor’ is only used for males, it is wrong. So, does it mean you can use ‘professors’ with females also? Or, is there any other name by which you can call a female professor?

To help you get answers to these questions, here is a complete guide on how to call a female professor.

What should you call your female professor?

Professor is a word which is used for both males and females. Thus you must only call your female professor with the professor or the title they discussed with you in the starting. You must ensure that you are not making any biases between a male and a female professor. However, if they give you the title, make sure you are using it. You must remember that just like any professor can be called a professor, irrespective of their gender, the rules for dressing up are also the same.

Important: Some people also call them a Professoress which is taken from the German term – Professorin meaning wife of Professor. However, it is not a common term.

How to address a female professor if they have a doctoral degree?

If your professor has a doctoral degree, call them “Doctor.” You can call them “Doctor” followed by their last name. Getting a doctoral degree is very hard and usually carries more authority than professors. Therefore, when addressing them, you must use “Dr.” before their name. However, if you do not know their qualifications, you must call them using the term professor. There is a high chance that they will correct you. In such a scenario you must remember what they said to you and you must try to follow it.

How can you address your female professor?

The first thing you need to remember is how to address a female professor will depend upon how they are asking. You may address them by using Ms., Mrs., etc. only if they want you to call them by their first name. However, if this is the case, you must try to find out what they use before their name. You can find it out during the introduction time. However, it is not yet clear, you must call them by saying professor followed by the last name. It is the easiest and safest way to address your female professor.

Should you call your female professor Ms. or Mrs.?

In the initial times, it was considered appropriate to call the female professor Ms or Mrs. But currently, there are many debates on it. Although at present many professors allow to be called Miss or Mrs., many professors do not find it appropriate. The simple reason for this is that many believe such a difference is not done with male professors. They considered married and unmarried women equally. Another reason that most female professors consider it is that these titles oversee the position of your professor’s academic achievement.

They say that being a female professor does not affect the pay so why should there be a difference between them? Therefore, you must avoid using these titles as using them can leave a bad impression on them. To get saved, you must only use a professor to call them.

How to know what you call a female professor?

Every university and college follows a proper code for the students to call their professors. If your university also gives you specific titles for your female professors, you must use them. However, if they do not give you, the best thing you can do is to call them a professor. One thing you can do is to talk to the students who have already taken a class from that professor. They will give you the right advice on how to call that professor. 

How can you address the female teaching assistants?

If you have to address a female who is not teaching you but is an assistant of the professor then you can call them by using Ms. Make sure to use Mrs., only if you are asked to. The reason, you can not call them a professor or a doctor is because they do not have a proper teaching duty and have not completed their PhD yet.

Usually, teaching assistants are the ones who have just completed their graduation. Most students call them by their first name as they are only 2-3 years older than them. Thus, you can say that it is common to call them by their first name. Remember that you should not do it until you find someone doing it.

How can you address the female lab instructor?

Again the first thing is to find out their qualifications. If they have just graduated or not worked for a long time, you must use Ms. On the other hand, if they have received their doctoral degree, you must address them with a Doctor’s title. Again if they want you to address them with a different title, they will let you know that. Another thing that you can do is to talk to the students who have studied from the professors earlier.

Conclusion

Professor is a word that is used for both females and males. Therefore when you call a female professor you will call them the title professor. Further, if they have completed their doctoral degree, call them a doctor. In addition, some professors will tell you the titles, you can use to call them. Also, you must make sure that you are not calling them by Ms. or Mrs as they may think that it is something that is not based on their academic achievements. Therefore you should only call them using the word professor until they give you a different title.