Assistant Professor in Social Psychology

Job Description

Psychology Department: Assistant Professor in Social Psychology (Initial Review Date Dec. 19, 2025)

Position overview

Position title: Assistant Professor in Social Psychology (tenure-track)
Salary range: Commensurate with qualifications and experience; academic year (nine-month basis). A reasonable estimate for the annual salary of this position is $95,000 - $110,000.

Anticipated start: July 1, 2026, with the academic year beginning September 2026. Degree requirements must be met by June 30, 2026 for employment effective July 1, 2026 and beyond.

Application Window

Open date: November 18, 2025
Next review date: Friday, Dec 19, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
Final date: Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position Description

The Psychology Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in social psychology. We seek to hire a scholar who views social issues through a structural lens and whose research advances the unique social justice focus of our program. We are particularly interested in scholars who conduct community-engaged research with a mixed-methods approach with Indigenous communities. Preference will be given to candidates with experience working and collaborating with Indigenous communities, and who study topics at the intersection of identity and belonging; climate and environmental justice, action, and sustainability; and Indigenous research methodologies or approaches. Candidates should be actively engaged in research and show promise of continued research productivity. In addition, they should be prepared to teach both graduate and undergraduate level courses in social psychology and to contribute significantly to graduate education through mentoring of graduate students. Candidates with experience designing and delivering curriculum that can contribute to an Indigenous Studies Minor at UCSC will be given strong consideration. We seek to hire scholars whose strengths best complement the distinctive character of our social psychology program and are especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the excellence of our academic community through their research, teaching, and service. The successful candidate must be able to work with students, faculty and staff from a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds.

UC Santa Cruz is an institution with a high proportion of first-generation and low-income students. We welcome candidates who understand the historical barriers that exist in higher education and who can clearly articulate how their teaching, mentoring, creative/professional activity, and service contribute towards building a just scholarly community.

Psychology Department: https://psychology.ucsc.edu/

Preferred and Required Qualifications

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at the time the application is submitted)
Ph.D. (or equivalent foreign degree) in psychology, social psychology, or a related field. It is expected that the degree requirement will be completed by June 30, 2026.

Application Details (to apply use the Apply Now button below.)

Application Requirements

Document requirements
Applications are accepted via the UCSC Academic Recruit online system; all documents and materials must be submitted as PDFs.

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter - Letter of application that briefly summarizes your qualifications and interest in the position.
• Research Statement - A research statement describing your program of research.
• Teaching Statement - A teaching statement describing your teaching experience, interests, and plans appropriate for the students at UC Santa Cruz. Refer to the teaching statement guidelines and evaluation criteria.
• Reprint or Preprint - Provide one of your most significant reprints or preprints. A minimum of 2 are required and a maximum of 6 will be accepted.
• Reprint or Preprint - Provide one of your most significant reprints or preprints. A minimum of 2 are required and a maximum of 6 will be accepted.
• Reprint or Preprint - Provide one of your most significant reprints or preprints. (Optional)
• Reprint or Preprint - Provide one of your most significant reprints or preprints. (Optional)
• Reprint or Preprint - Provide one of your most significant reprints or preprints. (Optional)
• Reprint or Preprint - Provide one of your most significant reprints or preprints. (Optional)

Reference requirements

• 3-5 letters of reference required

Applications must include confidential letters of recommendation*. Note that your references, or dossier service, will submit their confidential letters directly to the UC Recruit System.

*All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. For any reference letter provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service, career center), direct the author to UCSC’s confidentiality statement at https://academicpersonnel.ucsc.edu/confidentiality-statements/.

Apply link: https://recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF02011

Help contact: psycdept@ucsc.edu

Job location

Santa Cruz, California