Korean Job Discussion Forums

[TECO]

In Japan, applicants need a minimum of a Masters Degree to get into a university teaching job.

These jobs pay very well for the least amount of hours worked and allow for generous holidays.

Basically, these jobs are out of reach for those holding only a B.A.

Any idea if this is also the case in Korea?

How are the working conditions in Korean universities compared to Japanese universities?

Also, do Korean Universities accept distance M.A. degrees in TESOL or Linguistics from schools like - Univ. Birmingham, Leeds, USQ, etc, etc.?

Thks.

[Joo Rip Gwa Lee]

It helps get jobs at many places, but I would guess around 70- 75% of the foreigners teaching at Korean universites don't have a Masters degree.

The trend in Korea is for Universities to offer contracts that pay less and hire B.A's instead of M.A's because people with B.As will accept conditions (not only money) that are a lot worse.

However this has not stopped several Korean universites who did the above from portraying their instructors in their English program brochures
as having M.As when they didn't.

The Universites saw they could make more money by lying than telling the truth. As you can see integrity is not a high priority at most Korean Universities.


Working at a good hogwon is much better than working at a bad university.

[Real Reality]

The reality of Korean universities is that they can be much worse than Japanese universities. Korean universities can even be worse than Korean institutes (hogwans).

Be very careful when exploring work opportunities with Korean universities and institutes. You may find that bait-and-switch is a common practice.

Good luck.

[The Lemon]

[Arthur Fonzerelli]

[rasta man]

I agree with Lemon's perception at our school a low level school in Gwangju we have 10 foreign teachers and 8-9 of us have MA's. Other schools we have taught at also seem to be around 75% MA holders. With the univ job market getting tighter the % of MA holders at unis will definitely go up

[Arthur Fonzerelli]

[rasta man]

I can only talk for my uni but last summer we lost 3 teachers (we had no turnover this semester) but only hired 2 to replace them because of falling enrollments. We got over 150 resumes we didn't even consider people with BA's and we still had close to 100 qualified applicants including some with PhDs.

When we were hired in Nov 2001 we were told there were close to 300 resumes recieved for the jobs we got. Yeah many were BA's with only hogwon experience but the number of MA people applying seems to be increasing.

Might be more indicitive of how soft the job market for advanced degree holders in North America

[kimcheeking]

Yeah I'm doing my MA in applied linguistics via distance right now exactly for this reason. Marketabality! I may even be looking for a job later this year and am hoping that having an MA in progress plus 3 years of university position will get me a better job (less hours, I teach 20 right now).

[dutchman]

12 teaching hours a week
3 day schedule
20 weeks of paid vacation
Private office
No housing
2.2 mil
In Seoul
9 BA/BS, 1 MA

Thankfully our surpervisor is more concerned with staff compatibility and harmony than with Masters degrees.