Jenni - there's a wide range of careers and salaries for college/university positions, here, and I know some of the titles vary internationally.
* I'll be an assistant professor on the tenure track, meaning that in six years, the university decides if I'll stay permanently. I'm at a large university and in a technical field; these research-focused jobs are very desirable. Unfortunately there are far more qualified candidates than openings (thus the stress of the job search, and the decade I spent in postdoctoral 'training' positions!).
* There are also some positions called lecturer or instructor that are purely teaching but have stable employment and salaries that range from primary school teachers to my own salary. (This is different from the UK system where lecturer is a step on the faculty ladder, not a separate career path like it is here.)
* There is an unfortunate trend in the US of shifting the teaching onto adjunct faculty who are paid badly, usually per-course instead of full-time employment with benefits (health insurance etc). This system takes advantage of a mismatch in supply and demand, especially in the humanities. There are very few permanent faculty jobs in, say, history, and there are a lot of folks with PhDs in history who are hoping that they'll hit the jackpot if they just spend a few more years scraping together a living.
(Yes, TA is teaching assistant.)
