Job Discussion Forums

[taikibansei]

Chris, are you really arguing (Paul isn't, by the way) that one should get a PhD just to be a bit more competitive for the 1-year (sometimes 3-year) contracts you'll find in Japan? Is that really worth 4-6 years of your life (not to mention the related expenses)? Most (if not all) of your colleagues will be hired just with the MA...and under similar conditions to yourself. The job market for PhDs back in your home country will not better--the typical US job search in the humanities, for instance, gets 100-200 qualified (i.e., PhD and publications) applicants. At my position (in Japan) now, I get 1-3 CVs forwarded to me each week from desperate PhDs (we're not even hiring now...) looking for even part-time work.

Quite frankly, a PhD is meaningless without significant (and numerous) publications. Hence, my advice still stands--only go for one if you want to improve your ability to conduct high-level research in the field of choice. I'm speaking as the possessor of a PhD (and two MAs)--the jobs I've gotten have always been because of my publication record and language skills.

A Masters is still the degree of choice for 2-year colleges in the States. Plenty of people also find contract positions (part- or full-time) with just a Masters in Japan. Getting a PhD will help only if you are both targeting university tenure-track positions and plan to churn out publications. If you're not interested in the latter, save your money.

[taikibansei]

[PAULH]

[quote="Chris21"]

[Chris21]

[PAULH]

[quote="Chris21"]

[Chris21]

I know what you mean about putting all of my eggs into one basket. Working towards a doctorate is certainly a risk, given that the tenured jobs in Japan are few and far between... and likely to be fewer when schools start closing. There are still some around though, and most of them seem to require a doctorate. I don't really mind looking for work every few years with 3-year contract limits, but as you said, it can be time-consuming, time which might be better spent doing research or writing publications.

I don't think the age restrictions on jobs will be a problem for me just yet. I'm 30, and hope to be 33 when I finish (at the very very earliest). I think that would put me in good stead, but I do need to improve my Japanese significantly (and add some better publications).

I guess the bottom-line is that there's always a risk associated with education. People can spend years of time and thousands of dollars trying to acquire a qualification and then find out that there are no jobs available when they're done, or as Taikibansei said, the qualification might not be necessary. I read recently that some of the people that studied IT (most notably web-design) in the late 90s are having difficulty finding good work. It seems easy to use web-design software and the outsourcing of jobs to India, have made the IT job market a difficult one. I don't think that'll happen in Japan. I think a doctorate will only increase in value, but one never knows for sure...

[taikibansei]

[PAULH]

[Chris21]

Thanks for the discussion Taikibansei and PaulH. I really appreciate that you've shared your experiences - it's useful when trying to get a fuller perspective on the job possibilities available in Japan.

Taikibansei, thanks for the link to that study. It was interesting. I imagine the US academic job market and the Japanese academic job market are slightly different though. I think the US (for which the study was based) is generally regarded as having higher academic requirements for employment, which may be the reason why greater number of PhD-holders have difficulty finding good jobs. Some other things to consider might be that not all PhD-holders are actively seeking tenure. Many go into other careers (business, NPOs, translation-work), work at high schools, continue their education with a post-doctoral fellowship, or just drop out of the work force. It would have also been interesting to see the effects of time upon hiring. Most likely tenure-placement for a specific graduating class increases as the years pass. So while a graduating class might have an initial placement rate of 40%... I wonder if it might be up around 60, 70 or 80% five years down the road? While the article indicates that around 50% of PhD graduates in the US find tenure-track positions in the US, I wonder what the stats would be for PhD graduates who want and ultimately find tenure-track positions. Unfortunately, that was not indicated in the study. I think the numbers would also be quite different when placed in a Japanese context.

Please don't get me wrong, I really, really appreciate that you've included the link to the article... I think we might just differ on the value of a Doctorate degree (at least in how useful it is when looking for a tenure-track job in Japan). As you said, it's certainly not the only factor...Japanese-ability, publishing, age, experience, contacts, and luck are all important considerations.

By the way, Paul... good luck on Saturday!

[taikibansei]

Hi Chris,

[SeasonedVet]

This is a very interesting and informative thread.
I've learnt alot about Professorship at Universities in Japan.
Some years ago I was set to study until I completed a post graduate degree. Since then I have lost the motivation. I am not getting any younger and from time to time I re-consider.

What you guys have posted here goes a long way in helping us to better understand what our options are.

I have read the in Thailand the guys who get the University positions are not paid alot ( I think 40 000 baht used to be the norm, let me double check, and that it might have lowered in some cases to between 25 000 ~ 30 000)) and that guys at regular Language schools or High Schools don't get paid much less ( about 25 000 Baht ) Let me verify all this or if anyone has the correct figures please feel free to post them.

So I said that to ask this: How does the University job whether part time or tenure track compare to jobs in Eikaiwas here in Japan or jobs like Jet where Remuneration is concerned?

I know that Jets make about 300 000 yen (before tax?)
And four/ five years ago Eikaiwa teachers could make up to 300 000 if they stayed a few years and were promoted.
I think the Area Managers at one Eikaiwa I know make 400 000 yen monthly.

How do the salaries compare?

[PAULH]

[Chris21]

SeasonedVet,

You've done your homework about various teaching salaries! From my experience, all of the Japanese and Thai salaries you mentioned seemed about right, although I think Eikaiwa managers might make a little less than 400,000... probably closer to a 350,000 ceiling. A big income difference though between JET and working at an eikaiwa could be rent... some JETs have to pay it, but a lot are given free accomodation. If you don't have to worry about rent, your take-home from JET can be much higher than if you worked at an eikaiwa.

I was a JET and worked at an eikaiwa, and JET offered a much better salary - about 250,000 after taxes and insurance (I had a free apartment - although every JET situation is different). Another nice benefit of JET is that some placements give long breaks over the spring and summer vacations. When I worked at an eikaiwa I hardly had any vacation time at all.

If you're thinking of going back to school and getting another degree, but also want to teach in Japan, I think JET is perfect. Even after extensive lesson-planning and Japanese study, I still had loads of free time when I was a JET. In hindsight, it was the perfect opportunity to get a Masters (but I didn't). Instead, I worked on my Masters while I was working long hours at an eikaiwa, which probably made it a lot more difficult on myself.

As you can see from this thread, there are some differing opinions on the value of a Doctorate. I think a lot depends on where you ultimately want to end up in your career.

[Chris21]

After reviewing my response, it dawned on me that you might want more specifics...

You asked how the salaries compare. From what I know, I think it breaks down like this (although I could be wrong)...

JET
300,000 base salary, 250,000 after deductions (with possible benefits from free accomodation and various private classes)

Eikaiwa
Full-time seems to hover around 250,000, with some schools offering a little more.

Semi full-time can be less - about 200,000 - 230,000

Universities
They can range quite a bit and salaries are contingent on a number of factors (which PaulH already mentioned). For a new full-time teacher on a fixed-term contract, who is young with no experience, I've seen salaries from below JET (250,000 a month) to as high as 500,000 a month.

I think salaries would be quite different if one had tenure. Rube Redfield, a professor in Kansai, has published a salary-breakdown for tenured faculty (at Kansai unis).

It can be found at this link...
http://www.debito.org/PALEautumn99.html#salaryscales

He might have published a new one last year, but I can't seem to find it.

[PAULH]