Job Discussion Forums

[Dagmar]

I have been working in China off and on since 2002- Now 66 years old, I would have liked to have seen out my days there, as I still believe in the modernisation of China by conventional methods rather than by the big corporations, or at least parallel to them- but my age is against me. Added to this, I have found that a former colleague is now teaching at a prestigious university in China.. the person had only one year on a degree having left with learning difficulties- telling me ESL is the perfect place to hide learning difficulties and though classed as a conversation teacher, has an accent thick enough to cut with a knife? (immigrant to America) I know we English are considered over 'careful'- such a person would indeed be found a job in education, but not hands on teaching! I am totally miffed at what is going on, as when I first went out there, it was impossible to get into a university without a degree and for good measure, here we also had to undergo a 'teach in China' course at our sponsoring University! The status quo is destroyed amongst colleagues, and I can only feel sorry for this teacher's pupils! It is a horrendous situation for an educationalist. The fact that this person is a regular China traveller is not a good enough reason. I worked in Colleges in England before going to China, and found it is normal for teachers to move around- very few stay in the same place all their lives, infact for the College's financial reasons, most teachers are supplied by agencies.
So, an expert and experienced China teacher, who is hale and hearty, still has naturally brown hair, cannot get a place because of a few years yet someone who should not even be in the university world is teaching top students! The situation is ludicrous, Universities have never been ageist- as one cannot rise to higher levels of years of study without using up years-- yet they are now saying they can only employ young people-- isn't this at odds with the whole concept of Universities?

[artemisia]

From all reports, I'm afraid this seems to be typical of Asia - perhaps not everywhere - but it's not exactly an unusual bias.

Is there a compulsory retirement age in China? I realise that's a different issue but it is related. In many countries there is an age by which you must retire but I'm not sure if this is being slowly phased out or if that age has been raised. I think people should have a choice about this but you often don't.

[naturegirl321]

[GMark]

Hey Dagmar, I'd really like to know the name of that prestigious university, could you PM it to me, please?

Maybe you could use your experience to write ESL materials? Just a thought. The age barrier will hit me before long, too. I've noticed a lot of job ads for China with age limits of 50, 52, or similar, so it looks like a solid trend.

[LongShiKong]

You may want to try Beida. About 5 yrs ago, I met a semi-retired physics prof from Germany who must've been in his late 60s.

[Trebek]

I am 48 and there are two old teachers here at my Uni. Both are in they're 60's. One just got hired for her first year in China. I think China is the best country for us older folks; they seem to value age and wisdom, but since they are modernizing, this could be diminishing. Good luck with your job search. Ageism sux, I hope this injustice gets the attention what it deserves.

Good luck,

Al

[Joshua Wells]

I, too, am over 60 years old, and I have found that age discrimination is a fact of life for most all schools. I'm not sure of all the reasons, but I'm guessing it may have something to do with the mandatory retirement age in China being 60. Beyong that, one should be retired regardless of energy, youth, outlook, or ability to teach. The universities are more lenient with this, and �lder folks' have a better chance of landing an ESL job at that level. The cut-off seems to be 55.
Joshua Wells