Korean Job Discussion Forums

mastap · Joined: 10 Apr 2007

What are the chances of getting hired at a Univ. in korea if you are
an asian-american/canadian native English speaker?

I know there is discrimination at the hagwon level but is it even more severe
at the univ level?

makemischief · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Location: Traveling

out of 16 teachers on staff at my uni we have 2 korean-canadian/americans, one african american and one hispanic-american. we're a veritable united colors of benetton ad.

that said the last uni i worked at was as white bread as they get.

Young FRANKenstein · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 7:45 am Post subject:

At my last uni, out of 7 teachers doing the freshman classes, 1 was Korean, 1 as Korean-American, 1 was South Asian, and 1 was South-East Asian. Only three white breads in the bunch.

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Your odds will not be decreased because of your ethnicity, but more probably because you don't have any advanced degrees.

plasticmustache · Joined: 09 Oct 2006

ahh god another one of these posts....

Anyway, some Uni's require F4 visas or the other visa(the one u get when u marry a korean). Or some will shell out the University work visa.

That means most are Korean or very qualified non Koreans. A good teacher is a good teacher. Don't worry about the race thing. In my opinion, the race thing is mainly a Hagwon problem because some parents prefer Caucasians since they shell out so much money. I think they believe they can get better pronunciation, etc...

Anyway,
If you can speak Korean, that's gonna really help you. Korea's changing and they prefer having qualified, non crazy gyopo's instead of Caucasians in public and College schools. All of my Korean friends have vouched for this, as they have read articles and such in colleges, etc... Gyopo's come from the same background and understand the nuances of Korean etiquette and culture. They work well in the system.

But a good, qualified teacher is a good, qualified teacher regardless of race. For instance, one of my friend's is of African descent and raised in England. He works at a Korean Uni teaching Conversation in a Metropolitan City. He has great credentials to teach in college.

Hope this helps....

youmepicnic · Joined: 05 Mar 2006

At my university we have non-white native speakers.

The important part is not that you are white, or are Asian... If you have no crazy ESL accent, then many unis overlook the issue of "white-ness".

Many places dont hire Aussies, Kiwis, etc. Apparently because they have an accent. This is not the case at the uni where I work. We have a bit of everything.

It depends on where you do, and who the director of HR or the ESL department is at the moment. (as this will change maybe twice a year) If they hire based or race and not qualification, dont be hurt; you wouldnt want to work there anyway.

Best of luck, and PM me for tips on gettign the uni gig