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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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 Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject: Need an advanced degree to teach at a university? |
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This pulled from an older thread in the Chronicle forums about AIU (Akita International University, not the travel insurance company  ).
The part that got my attention appears below.
| Quote: |
| Nevertheless, many Japanese universities DO have full professors (Japanese) that have only (or not even) a B.A. or the equivalent. Although a good many of them are no doubt phonies and impostors, the lack of a Ph.D alone does not necessarily indicate incompetence--for example the internationally highly-respected superstar historian Amino Yoshihiko never even got a masters degree but taught for years at Nagoya University and Kanagawa University. This would be a pretty unlikely career path for younger scholars today, who are generally weeded out in the hiring process on the basis of Ph.D. possession (or the equivalent--in many cases still ABD). In the past, not having more than a B.A. was quite common, perhaps even the norm. In fact, most Japanese who had Ph.Ds (at least in the humanities) got them very late in life, after publishing their magnum opus, or sometimes even after retirement. Or from abroad. To judge whether AIU is rewarding or condoning incompetence (I haven't done it, but based on what I know it seems likely a lot of it is present), it is thus necessary to take into consideration what generation a professor came from. And perhaps the field in which (s)he is trained. |
So, I have to wonder, maybe it's still going on?
http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,28632.0.html[/url]
Last edited by gaijinalways on Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, well, I guess I can always bump my own thread (the OP bump  ).
I think it's less common now as many of my bosses have advanced degrees, but not all of those degrees are related to the departments they head/teach in. This would be okay if they were not teaching elective clases, but I'm sorry I'm not flexible enough to want literature classes in the business dpartment. That and unfortunately, some of the better teachers in my departments are not the heads, if you know what I mean.
Though in one sense, and this was mentioned in the same thread, having more education will not make you a better teacher. In addition, I'm not sure if any of those degrees were bought as well. So like many things in Japan, on the surface, things may seem to be better.
Now in many of the departments they are asking for higher degrees even for the part-timers, certainly at least a Master's at the better unis, though some still are willing to overlook that if you have a relation at the place you want to work. Partly this is not the unis' own doing as the pressure from Monkasho to get them to improve their standards is often applied.
Anyone else want to share? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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Phonies or imposters. Perhaps. That rings a bell about a recent news story where a bunch of uni profs (probably all Japanese) were found to have fake degrees. Do a search here, because I believe I started the thread.
But, there is another explanation for people having less than at least a master's degree. Age. The grandfather clause, if you will.
As for foreigners, though, don't think this is going to be a norm. Expect to need at least a master's degree to even get noticed, and that degree had better be related to linguistics or something, plus you'll need publications and usually experience in Japan to even begin to compete with the other 20-100 people who apply to the same job as you. (Not you, personally, gaijinalways, the editorial "you".) |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:08 am Post subject: |
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No worries Glenski, I already have my related degree (I think it's in fuzzy logic  ).
Though one of my bosses' degrees is somewhat related, as he did a Master's in Japanese translation. Not sure how much that would help in teaching, though certainly it would help in understanding Japanese students' problems with translating from english to Japanese.
I have another boss though, who has no English teaching related degrees, but he does have a PhD in another subject. Some would question whether someone with little teaching experience should be running the English section of a department.
Go figure. |
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taikibansei
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:05 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| But, there is another explanation for people having less than at least a master's degree. Age. The grandfather clause, if you will. |
I'd argue that it's because of the increasing competition for these positions. I remember being on search committees (at a pretty good national university) in the mid-90s when we'd be lucky to get 30 applications for a tenured position. In the 80s, according to older colleagues, it was apparently even less competitive; hence, you had to take the best of what you got (or was recommended to you). If the best was someone with a BA/BS, then so be it.
The latter principle still appears to be in practice, but with so many more people (thanks to both the poor global economy and the wide reach of the internet) applying for positions these days, including a fair number of PhDs with good publications and significant teaching experience, the bar for hire has been raised. Indeed, absurdly so--e.g., I'm not sure why a PhD (or an MA with significant teaching experience/publications) is required now for so many part-time/term-limited positions. Still, as long as universities can get away with these absurd requirements, they will continue the practice. |
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taikibansei
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:26 am Post subject: Re: Need an advanced degree to teach at a university? |
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| gaijinalways wrote: |
| This pulled from an older thread in the Chronicle forums about AIU (Akita International University, not the travel insurance company ). The part that got my attention appears below. |
Of course, the really sad thing about that old Chronicle thread--and the AIU situation as a whole--is that AIU fired a number of experienced, extremely qualified foreign faculty for a variety of trumped up reasons. Both Glenski and I know some of the people impacted. The faculty in question had received good student evaluations throughout. They'd published and presented. They'd received major grants (including at least one Kaken). Several spoke Japanese fluently. At least one had a PhD. All were let go without legitimate reason and in the face of verbal and written promises--indeed, they ended up suing in a Japanese court...and winning. Still, what a waste for all involved....  |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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taikibansei,
I noticed your name in the discussion thread (I read all 19 pages of it, it's recently been revived), but I didn't realize both you and Glenski knew people from that university.
Yes, it was a shame, but things like that still happen. The only difference is sometimes the scale. I was reading that thread because it related to a discussion about Debito and Clark, two people relevant in a Let'sJapan forum discussion thread. |
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