Job Discussion Forums

[Anjin-san Hashimoto]

Good Morning All,
Like a lot of fellow education professionals I am looking at doing some study while in Hong Kong. I have settled down here quite comfortably and see myself being here for anywhere between 5-10 years. Currently I am teaching students at a tertiary level in a Hong Kong College. Eventually I would like to move into a university position. I already have my M.A in Applied Linguistics but feel a PhD would really set me up well for the future.

I have been doing a lot of research and I am thinking about choosing a Hong Kong university for my doctoral degree. I am very seriously considering enrolling in the programme through the Open University of Hong Kong. The programme looks solid, it is reasonably priced and seems convenient for me to do while working. However, my question is how are degrees earned through the "Open" University perceived. I would hate to work hard for four years only to have the doctoral degree regarded as something I received in the mail. This is not my perception but I can imagine it is a view that may be held by some people.

Does anyone here on the board have any opinions about this? Also do any of you know of another Doctor of Education or PhD in Applied Linguistics programme in Hong Kong (or perhaps elsewhere by distance) that you would recommend? I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or sugestions you all may have.

Thanks.

[Marcoregano]

IMHO, if I was going to do a PhD here I'd probably prefer HKU, as I know for a fact they have top research professors. Having said that, I don't know what the relative costs are. If the OUHK is a lot cheaper I'd certainly give it consideration - it's a real university and I doubt that any serious institute would hold anything against you for doing it there. Buuuut having said that, HKU does carry more kudos and it might be worth paying the extra. And I think what would decide it for me would be the possibility, even slight, of getting a job at HKU via the PhD. That would be payback, bigtime! A friend teaches at HKU. He is currently in Bali for 3 weeks. After that he's going to the UK for a month. His next class is in September...

[Horizontal Hero]

If your motivation is employment at a uni, a PhD would likely take you further than an Ed. D. In Asia institution names seem to mean a lot - much more than I anticipated when I did my PhD at a lesser known Aussie Uni, and it was technically on-campus, even though I didn't spend much time at the actual uni itself. I was originally enrolled at a higher tier uni, but switched because the professor I wanted to work with went there. I didn't really care at the time, as I wasn't really thinking of uni employment down the track, and quite frankly I thought that if the research was good, it would not be a big problem to get a job.

I was quite wrong about that. Where you get your degree from seems to count an awful lot, especially in Asia. What you know and can actually do doesn't seem to matter much at all. I got rave reviews for my thesis, from professors at top world unis like Princeton. But "Princeton" doesn't appear on my piece of paper, sadly! It's the great irony of the system. Your thesis doesn't even get examined by your own uni, but by external examiners.

I've published heaps to try to overcome my "limitation" - 25 in total now - my own book (my thesis got published), book chapters, heaps of peer-reviewed papers, conference presentations (all funded by myself) and so on. I�ve diversified into other subject areas, and away from my original topic area to increase my chances. I even designed my own curriculum programme for Chinese unis, and presented it at a top conference. Hasn't made a bit of difference. I have put in hundreds of job applications and can't get a job. I am still teaching basic English to high school kids.

When I get a bit depressed about the unfairness of it all, I just remind myself of why I did the PhD in the first place. It was out of passion for a particular field of knowledge, not to play the academic game. I am now working on more than one book related to my research area, which I hope to get published for the popular market, as well as setting my own business, part-time.

In other words because I wrote up my doctorate at a new, lesser known uni, in order to get noticed I have effectively had to do twice the amount of work as people who did theirs at better known unis - and still without any practical result in terms of a job, two years after I submitted my thesis. I believe things will work out in the long run, but I will have to be very persistent.

[Marcoregano]

[Horizontal Hero]

[Marcoregano]

[Anjin-san Hashimoto]

Hell all and thanks for your valuable thoughts, ideas and experiences. Marcoregano - nice to see you have made a decision about where to go to next. I can definitely understand how you feel about HK at the moment. I have no doubt my feelings will be similar as time goes on.

Also thanks Horizontal Hero. I think you make a very valid point and I have decided to find a better programme. I'm certainly not Princeton material but I think I can find something better. The idea of spending four years on something only for it to have less value than I hoped it to sickens me. I'm from Australia too so I think I will try to locate something there or perhaps HKU as Marcoregano suggested.

Also I had a question for BCinHK. Looking at the HK Open University programme I was very turned off by the thought of taking end of course exams at that level. I was wondering how you found the exams? It seems pretty stupid to me to sit for end of course exams for a doctoral degree. Anyway, just curious...

Cheers.

[Marcoregano]

AsH, good luck with your PhD hunting. Actually, I made my decision to head for Spain quite a while ago (but I won't be going for a while yet). I have long been conscious of the fact that HK is not my 'choice for life' and most expats I know here would agree. One of the interesting things though, is that although many expats here say they intend leaving asap, or in a couple of years, or whatever, not many seem to know where they're going next or when they're going to make the move. Hence my post on the other thread - and judging by the lack of responses, not many of those using this forum know where they're going next either. It's not an easy place to escape.

[Marcoregano]