Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PRagic]

And more about jobs in Turkey, please!

[legalquestions]

PRagic,

Sorry, but I have to disagree with your statement that one "pretty much" needs a (research based) Doctor of Philosophy degree to teach outside of ESL. My (highest) graduate degree is a Doctorate, but not a Ph.D.-type doctorate, and I just accepted a job teaching non-ESL graduate level courses here in Korea.

Also, I know of others (without PhD-type doctorates) teaching non-ESL university courses here as well.

[PRagic]

Great information. More specifics would be useful for those interested.

I so know a couple of people teaching in non-ESL fields. They have their MFAs in creative fields, and a load of experience.

What dicipline(s) do you/your friends teach? Big school? Small? City? Rural? The more known the better.

Cheers, and thanks for the input.

[rippa]

Nice thread - too bad about such off-topic attacks & chatter.

My experience is good & bad, typical and otherwise.

Background details:
With Ph.D., rather good job in a Seoul university, required to teach nine hours a week for two terms of 15 weeks, but with midterm breaks actually four seven-week stretches.

I'm sure that I'm the last to learn everything: opportunities, Univ. & local news, etc.; haven't got any local research funds yet (I got some from Korea in the past, however, when abroad).

Students are good (undergrad better than graduate students!)

Base pay is good. Extra regular workhours paid at 150,000 each - fine. Special lectures, speeches etc., as negotiated.

The university bureaucracy is slow generally, and slower to understand the needs of a foreign faculty member. No established mentor system. I'm hired as a professional (and expected not to whinge!) Conditions differ from Korean faculty in assorted ways. It's good, bad & ugly.

For those who fantasize about Japanese universities, it can be better and it can be worse. Being in the racial and cultural minority can be bad anywhere...

If researching Japanese higher education conditions, here is a place to start:
> Debito & The Community Blacklist <
http://www.debito.org/blacklist.html

My overall advice:

Don't expect the work to be easy (it probably won't be!)
Enjoy life while you can.
If you hate being lonely, don't consider work in Korea or Japan
Keep-up with research & friendship networks (need it be said?)
Living abroad is 24/7 = you'd best find local interests
Try to learn the local language - I'm off to work on it now!

[PRagic]

Great info, and I couldn't agree more, especially about the bureaucracy. I've been lucky, though, particularly when it comes to my co-workers. They have really gone out of their way to help me get used to the system.

I have learned that at the university where I work, until quite recently, 9 hours was the standard load. They reduced that to 6 hours when the school started a big push on the research end. We are 'asked', however, to take on one extra class once a year, and the overtime rate is tragically low. My take on it is that they want their cake and they want to eat it, too. We have a pretty intense publishing requirement, but still have to do a lot of things that take up a lot of time (and generally aren't part of the job at competitive universities).

Knowing the language does help, but trying to handle everything in Korean, especially the bureaucratic heaps of records, reporting, and paperwork, is taxing. I have really come to realize how much I still have to learn.

[Woland]

[Roch]