Korean Job Discussion Forums

[coolsage]

My colleague and I were sweating through some marking of uni writing papers today, huddling close to the fans, when he remarked," Do you suppose the Korean professors have Aircon?" I replied that I hadn't a clue, never have been invited into the plush offices that the K/profs occupy. As we were leaving the building, it was evident that every K/prof office had an aircon unit, and every foreign/prof office had none. Now I've been willing to overlook, if not ignore, the fact that the K/profs got flowers on Teachers' Day and we got none, and to gloss over the notion that the KPs got hi-tech key entry to their offices, or that they KPs get sumptuous furnishings for their offices while we're still digging desks and chairs off the midnight pile on the street. All this I can come to terms with, although it doesn't enhance my esteem for the Korean experience, but to learn that a foreign teacher is not worthy of the aircon that's available to everyone else, now that's a bitter one to swallow. Do we not perspire? Aren't we the ones seeking out black-market deodorant in order not to gross out those around us? Thank the gods that vacation is due. I'm almost burned out on this situation. The blatant hypocrisy with which the Chairman mouths the obligatory phrases at the obligatory meeting: "We'd like to thank you for your hard work here, yadda yadda.." They have a twisted way of showing it.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

We don't even get photocopier paper where I work. There is, however, air-con. We do all the lifting, they get the "respect." Sort of. They are drones, too, basically. They have to pass students that don't deserve it all the time, too.

[Ya-ta Boy]

This might be something to put in future contracts: Foreign teachers will get all the creature comforts that Korean teachers get.

On the other hand, with no air con you are spared the annual argument over cool vs fresh air that we always had with our K co-teachers. They always insisted on opening the windows while the air con was on--just the opposite of the annual winter argument over warm vs fresh air when they would open the windows while we were freezing.

[Real Reality]

[Zark]

You can make certain assumptions about benefits - such as A/C - but they may not always be true.

Most Korean professors at my uni have A/C but they paid for their units themselves. I'd buy A/C too if I thought I was going to stay a long time.

[Real Reality]

[mindmetoo]

Are you a real professor or an english instructor at a university?

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

If I am pricked, do I not bleed?

I can understand why you might be feeling a bit disgruntled, coolsage. "Fairness" just doesn't seem to be viewed over here in quite the way some of us are used to. (Am I going to get jumped on here by the A-team??)

I have seen vastly different standards of living even among foreign colleagues. At one middle school where I worked, one of the teachers was given a beautiful, new, two bedroom villa-type apartment with air-conditioning and all sorts of other nice amenities. Others, including myself (hence my own disgruntlement), were shoveled into grubby old non-air-conditioned cells with tissue paper thin walls, behind which infants wailed and mothers shrieked. At least the mother/child combo next to me did. When the lesser privileged of us inquired as to the reason for the perceived injustice, we were told "First come, first served." In short, it was just a matter of timing. Whatever accommodation was available at the time a new teacher arrived, was given to him or her. That reason made perfect sense to those in charge (all of whom no doubt, lived in agreeably air-conditioned homes). But it didn't particularly sit well with the rest of us. Odd, that.

[Derrek]

[Real Reality]

[Derrek]

[Derrek]

More interesting material. Check out how the North American definition differs:

http://www.answers.com/topic/professor

Survey of the main systems and concepts

North American

Main positions:
assistant professor:) the entry-level position,)for which one usually needs a Ph.D., )sometimes only a masters degree (at some schools/colleges and exceptions* such as Clinical Professorship). The position is generally not tenured, although in most institutions, the term is used for "tenure-track" positions; that is, the candidate can become tenured after a probationary period. However, strictly speaking the position is related to a pay grade rather than to tenure status, so in unusual circumstances it is possible to receive tenure but to remain in the assistant professor pay grade.
associate professor: the mid-level position, usually awarded (in the humanities and social sciences) after the "second book" — although the requirements vary considerably between institutions and departments. Can be tenured or not. In most institutions, the position is tenured, however strictly speaking the position is related to a pay differential and can be awarded to non-tenured persons. If awarded to a non-tenured person, the position is generally tenure-track.
(full) professor: the senior position. In a traditional school this is always tenured. However, this may not be the case in a for-profit private institution.
distinguished professor, distinguished teaching professor, distinguished research professor, University Professor, Institute Professor: these titles, often specific to one institution, generally are granted to the top few percent of the tenured faculty (and sometimes to under one percent).
*EXCEPTIONS: In real life, to balance academic and practical knowledge, full Professorship (say,Accounting scholarship Professor in Accounting or Entrepreneurship/Directorship) by invitation are top MBAs from senior ranking professionals from Big 4 accounting firms/CFO of public corporations and institutions etc. Refer to professional and executive-oriented professional schools/colleges with international admission for such certified expert-level professorship. Their post-MBA uprading/lifelong learning as practitioner are professionally accredited and on-the-job exposure as professional rather than by pure academic research towards a PhD.

........


Most other English-speaking countries
See Lecturer and academic rank for an explanation of these titles

Equivalently senior academics to assistant and associate professors are generally known as "Lecturers", "Senior Lecturers" and "Readers", with professorships reserved for only the most senior academic staff. A Professor in these countries holds either a departmental chair (generally as the head of the department or of a sub-department) or a personal chair (a professorship awarded specifically to that individual). In that sense, only full professors (North American style) are equivalents of professors.


French (France, Belgium)
After the doctorate or a grande école, scholars who wish to enter academe may apply for a position of maître de conférences ("master of conferences").

After some years in this position, they may take an "habilitation to direct theses" before applying for a position of professeur des universités ("university professor"). In the past, this required a higher doctorate. In some disciplines such as Law and Economics, candidates take the agrégation examination.


German (Central European)
After the doctorate, German scholars who wish to go into academe are supposed to take a Habilitation, i.e. they write a second thesis and spend some time in an inferior position. Once they pass, they are called Privatdozent and are eligible for a call to a chair.

Note that in Germany, there has been always a debate of whether Professor is a title that remains one's own for life once conferred (similar to the doctorate, which becomes part of the legal name), or whether it is linked to a function (or even the designation of a function) and ceases to belong to the holder once she or he quits or retires (except in the usual case of becoming Professor emeritus). The former view has won the day and is by now both the law and majority opinion.

When appropriate the joint title "Professor Doctor" has also been heard in the German system.

Similar or identical systems as in Germany (where a Habilitation is required) are in place e.g. in Austria, the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.


Main positions:
professor ordinarius (ordentlicher Professor, o. Prof.): professor with chair, representing the area in question. In Germany, it's common to call these positions in colloquial use "C4" professorships, due to the name of respective entry in the official salary table for Beamte. (Since the recent reform of the salary system at universities, you might now find the denomination "W3 professor".)
professor extraordinarius (au��erordentlicher Professor, ao. Prof.): professor without chair, often in a side-area, or being subordinated to a professor with chair. Often, successful but junior researchers will first get a position as ao. Prof. and then later try to find an employment as o. Prof. at another university. Colloquially called a "C3 professor" in Germany (or in the new scheme: "W2")
professor emeritus: just like in Northern America (see above); used both for the ordinarius and for the extraordinarius, although strictly speaking only the former is entitled to be called this way. Although retired and being payed a pension instead of a salary, they may still teach and take exams and often still have an office
Juniorprofessor: a very new institution (started in 2003; Germany only), this is a 6-year time-limited professorship for promising young scholars without Habilitation; it is supposed to rejuvenate the professorship through fast-track for the best, who eventually are supposed to become professor ordinarius. This institution has been introduced as a replacement for the Habilitation (see there for a discussion), which is now considered more an obstacle than a quality control by many. Being new, the concept is highly debated due to the lack of experiences. (The main point of criticism is that the Juniorprofessor is expected to apply for professorships at other universities during the later of the six years, as his university is not supposed to offer him tenure itself (other than in the tenure track schemes used e.g. in the USA).)

Other positions:
Honorarprofessor: equivalent of the North American adjunct professor, non-salaried.
au��erplanm�iger (apl.) Professor: either a tenured university lecturer or Privatdozent to whom the title is given if she or he has not attained a regular professorship after a while, or likewise an adjunct professor. The word au��erplanm�ig (meaning "outside of the plan (of positions and salaries)") denotes that he is not paid as a professor but only as a researcher.

Other professors:
In the United States, the bestowal of titles on persons is prohibited by constitution. On the other hand, most European governments actively grant different honorifics to their noted citizens. Therefore, the government is actually considered to have a final say in who should be called a professor. This leads to some other uses of professor.

Professor as a honorary title: In some countries using the German-style academic system (e.g. Austria, Finland, Sweden), Professor is also an honorific title that can be bestowed upon an artist, scholar, etc., by the President or by the government, completely independent from any actual academic assignment.
Professor as a title for a job outside the academia: In some countries, the directors of governmental research institutes or laboratories may automatically or semi-automatically receive the professor's designation. Usually these positions require scientific background qualifying a person for a university chair.
Gymnasialprofessor (High School Professor): Senior teachers at certain senior high schools in some German states and in Austria were also designated Professor in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Fachhochschulprofessor: professors at a Fachhochschule, which are less paid and don't hold the Habilitation. As they are generally called simply Professor, since the 1970s, professors of any kind that are actually affiliated with a university may call themselves University Professor.

Israel
The rank system largely parallels the American one, except that there are four faculty ranks rather than three: lecturer (martze), senior lecturer (martze bakhir), associate professor (profesor khaver), and full professor (profesor min ha-minyan). The most junior rank is presently in the process of being phased out: depending on the institution, a candidate is considered for tenure together with promotion to senior lecturer or to associate professor.


Professors in fiction
In fiction, in accordance with a stereotype, professors are often depicted as being shy and absent-minded. An obvious example is the 1961 movie The Absent-Minded Professor. Professors have also been portrayed as being misguided, such as the one who helped the villain Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, or simply evil like the Professor Moriarty who fought Sherlock Holmes. See also: mad scientist.


Quote
"Lectures," said McCrimmon, "are our most flexible art form. Any idea, however slight, can be expanded to fill fifty-five minutes; any idea, however great, can be condensed to that time. And if no ideas are available, there can always be discussion. Discussion is the vacuum that fills a vacuum. If no one comes to your lectures or seminars, you can have a workshop and get colleagues involved. They have to come, and your reputation as an adequately popular teacher is saved."
(John Kenneth Galbraith, A Tenured Professor)

[Real Reality]

[mindmetoo]

[hellofaniceguy]

Fairness? between koreans and non koreans in the workforce?
Never happen. Somethings non koreans get the better end of the stick and something koreans get the better end of the stick. In the end...we all get the shaft.
However....no one forces non koreans to sign contracts to teach ESL! If we don't like the way we are treated...leave! If we don't like the contract...why sign? Why stay at a school where the owner/director treats you bad? Why stay at a university if the korean professors are doing much much better than the foreign teacher? That's the fault of the FT's...they don't stand up for themself or others. And schools KNOW that they will always find a foreign teacher to take the shafting.