How to become a University Lecturer?

[Nelson]

I'm an upper six student this year. Next year, I would apply for Pure Mathematics course.

I wonder if I'm picking the right path to be a lecturer in university?
Can anyone please enlighten me? :roll:

[Zeroth]

lecturer in what field? Usually lecturers have a degree or masters in a field that they lecture in, but i have no idea of a specific pathway to become a lecturer. Most lecturers in universities are actually doing research and only lecture as an obligation to the university.

[joshuatj]

You want to become a lecturer?
That's interesting!!

Normally If you want to do research, and you don't have financial backup.
Therefore, you can do your research in Universities, lecturing will be like your part time.

This is what I have been told.

[kintaro_kun]

normally, to become a lecturer you must have at least a master's degree. and you're expected to proceed to PhD in your lecturing career.

you can still enter the uni's academic staff list by only having a bachelor degree, but you'd be relegated only as a tutor, rather than lecturing to a whole bunch of undergrads.

[Nelson]

Thank you all for your replies.

lecturer in what field?
Maybe a lecturer in Mathematics. However it depends on the demand of what kind of lecturer, then I'll make decision to take what course in master degree for that field.

You want to become a lecturer?
That's interesting!!
Yup, my friends also think that it's interesting. All of my friends plan to work soon after they get their bachelor degree but I'm not, so it seems that I've become one of the 'rare species'.

Most lecturers in universities are actually doing research and only lecture as an obligation to the university.
Normally If you want to do research, and you don't have financial backup.
Therefore, you can do your research in Universities, lecturing will be like your part time.
Nevermind since I love to do research too.

normally, to become a lecturer you must have at least a master's degree. and you're expected to proceed to PhD in your lecturing career.
I plan to further my study until master degree and even PhD if I can.

[meselsohnstahl]

lecturer in what field? Usually lecturers have a degree or masters in a field that they lecture in, but i have no idea of a specific pathway to become a lecturer. Most lecturers in universities are actually doing research and only lecture as an obligation to the university.

research is an important part of ur life if u become a lecturer. in some (malaysian)unis, preference will be given to those who do research on top of their teaching load when it comes to promotion.

and yes, u'll need at least a masters in whatever field u're doing. although its ok to not have a phd, u'll be considered like a 'second class citizen' amongst the teaching staff.. however, there are ppl who've taught in universities for years and yet only have a masters degree...

another thing.. i think u're supposed to graduate with at least a second upper, if u want to do ur masters degree directly after that.. if u get second lower, u'll need to work for several years before u can enter the programme(the length of time depends on individual univ)

[Zeroth]

you said mathematics field, what kinds of research are available at the moment? Are people willing to fund or support such research?

[Dr_Tay]

It depends if you are in a public university research is of high importance not that teaching isn't vital but it is part of the job.

In the private college sector teaching is more important and less time and money is spent on research if any of course.

When I was teaching at private colleges they normally ask you to teach more than 30 hours a week more like 35 to 36 hours. As far as I know public unis ask you to teach around 7 to 8 hours a week depending on the size of the class you are given of course. All this could be subjective.

Generally, private colleges or universities are more in it to make more money than examining their field in terms of research. If you like research try to teach at a good public university and if you like to teach, a private college should do you fine.

Finally, the bachelor and masters must be in the same subject. A PhD would be an icing on the cake but not necessary.

[Nelson]

you said mathematics field, what kinds of research are available at the moment? Are people willing to fund or support such research?
I got no idea for I haven't reached that stage/level yet, do you have anything to share?:)

Finally, the bachelor and masters must be in the same subject.
I didn't quite understand about the meaning of 'same subject', do you mind to clarify further? By the way, can Pure Mathematics and Statistics be considered as the same subject? Thank you.

[bush]

You guys overlooked the fact that one needs to have that talent to teach.

A brilliant researcher may not be a charismatic teacher.

[randy123]

onizuka is an example of a charismatic teacher

You guys overlooked the fact that one needs to have that talent to teach.

A brilliant researcher may not be a charismatic teacher.

[kintaro_kun]

i think onizuka can be a fine counsellor rather than a lecturer. cool guy.

[Dr_Tay]

Say for example your Bachelors and Masters or PhD must be both in Engineering for you to qualify under the Ministry of Education to teach Engineering at tertiary level i.e. degree level.

[ph7klw]

Hi Nelson

So, you are interested in being a lecturer in a university? The first question you need to ask is whether you like to do research or teaching.
If you like to do research, I highly recommed you to do your Bsc in a good university with a strong record in teaching such as in Singapore, US or UK. If you are capable, aim for scholarships. Do a PhD overseas and make sure that the university allows you to do some undergraduate teaching. Find a sponsorship or a studentship for your PhD.
If you like to research, make sure you have a few years of post-doctoral experience overseas.

Then, I have little doubt that you will be a lecturer if you end up wanting to return to Malaysia. No one in Malaysia can compete with you in terms of qualifications. But if you want to be a lecturer in a distingushed university, make sure you graduate from top 5 best university in the world and do a PhD, post-doc in famous research group and have good publication in high impact factor journals. Do your best to aim the highest. You can always move down the ladder if you think you couldnt move further up.

I got a Malaysian friend who is doing a Dphil in Oxford and he is also working as a college lecturer in the university. Don't think anyone would have such a qualification and experience like him if he chooses to apply for a senior lectureship in Malaysia.
I joke with him that if he wants to be a lecturer in University of Oxford, he has to go to eg, MIT to do a few years of post-doctoral experience and try his luck.

[jayden]

Hello. I have two friends who are planning to go into the teaching profession too, though i'm not sure whether it's gonna be scondary school teachers or uni lecturers. One of them is actually tutoring primary school students now while studying in form 6. I think that if u turn out to be a good lecturer people might sponsor you to go and further your studies. My cousin who used to be a lecturer at a certain private college has been sponsored by the college to get her phD at a university overseas 8)

[bush]

Hi Nelson

So, you are interested in being a lecturer in a university? The first question you need to ask is whether you like to do research or teaching.
If you like to do research, I highly recommed you to do your Bsc in a good university with a strong record in teaching such as in Singapore, US or UK. If you are capable, aim for scholarships. Do a PhD overseas and make sure that the university allows you to do some undergraduate teaching. Find a sponsorship or a studentship for your PhD.
If you like to research, make sure you have a few years of post-doctoral experience overseas.

Then, I have little doubt that you will be a lecturer if you end up wanting to return to Malaysia. No one in Malaysia can compete with you in terms of qualifications. But if you want to be a lecturer in a distingushed university, make sure you graduate from top 5 best university in the world and do a PhD, post-doc in famous research group and have good publication in high impact factor journals. Do your best to aim the highest. You can always move down the ladder if you think you couldnt move further up.

I got a Malaysian friend who is doing a Dphil in Oxford and he is also working as a college lecturer in the university. Don't think anyone would have such a qualification and experience like him if he chooses to apply for a senior lectureship in Malaysia.
I joke with him that if he wants to be a lecturer in University of Oxford, he has to go to eg, MIT to do a few years of post-doctoral experience and try his luck.

Only an IDIOT will want to come back here..........................Wang Gungwu couldn't make it then, what makes you think a non-bumi can be a prominent academician in one of our IPTA now?

Also, there are many Malaysians overseas who can easily kick any IPTA nobody's backside if they choose to come back here. You only need some effort to find them.

[Nelson]

After going through all posts, it seems that to become a university lecturer we should go oversea and have a oversea degree from good university. With that qualification we could join research group or have a sponsorship to do research in university and take teaching as a part time job. Perhaps that's the only way...

A master degree will be the minimum required qualification to become a lecturer, may I know what are the other criteria besides academic qualification to be a good lecturer?

[Dr_Tay]

Dear Nelson,

If you can try to avoid being a lecturer if you don't have industrial experience. Accumulate at least two to three years practical professional experience before going into the academic world.

Secondly, lecturers in Malaysia are poorly paid with some institutions overloading them with work unless of course you are of the right race, you stand very little chance of being promoted too.

Third, lecturers here are meant to teach and do very little research as the institutions are mostly factories of graduates churning them out like an assembly line in a car company.

[bush]

After going through all posts, it seems that to become a university lecturer we should go oversea and have a oversea degree from good university. With that qualification we could join research group or have a sponsorship to do research in university and take teaching as a part time job. Perhaps that's the only way...


You don't need to if you only want to teach.

[Hoong]

Nelson,

I think you shouldn't think too much for now. It's good that you already start thinking about what you want to do in the future and are making an effort to understand what it takes to become a good lecturer. If you are very interested in Math, you should definitely go for it.

While you are in college, you will have a chance to see for yourself the lifestyle of a Math professor. By sitting in the classrooms and listening to the lectures, you will then realize what it really takes to become a good lecturer. Likewise, unless you try doing some research you will never know what it is and what kind of skill sets you need to excel in it. These skills are not something you can read from a book.

So, when you are in college, you should start asking people around (lecturers, seniors for instance) about this profession. If it doesn't turn out to be your cup of tea, there are many jobs out there that you can do as a pure math major. And it shouldn't be a problem for you to do things that an applied math major can do. The key is to be flexible and keep asking and searching for what you like.

[digimushu]

Hrmm...

Why lecturer? Why not demand a professor appointment? If you have published lots, I mean LOTS of papers, you can walk up to them during the interview and demand they start you off with the lowest professor grade, which is professor grade C, which will bring you about 60-70K RM/ year. Should keep you fat and happy for a while.

The publications record in in our universities are so appaling, I don't think anyone really can say much. In engineering alone, lots of quantity, but no quality papers. Of course, M'sia will never be an R&D country now since it is already lagging behind South Korea and Taiwan.

Damn, I need more beer. In the mean time, have fun!

[Nelson]

It seems that the prospect of being a lecturer in local university is not very encouraging, perhaps I may go oversea for my tertiary education...

The matter is, you see, I'm not from a rich family and without scholarship I would have to study in local university only. Furthermore, my academic performance are not very outstanding, not quite sure about getting a scholarship.

So, now I'm very annoying...

Hrmm...

Why lecturer? Why not demand a professor appointment?

Actually I want to start from lecturer to gain more experiences. I've thought of being a professor in future, but I think if in Malaysia, the chance is very dimmed...

[digimushu]

Doesn't hurt to ask, does it? They can only say yes, or no.

Good luck.

[meselsohnstahl]

I got a Malaysian friend who is doing a Dphil in Oxford and he is also working as a college lecturer in the university. Don't think anyone would have such a qualification and experience like him if he chooses to apply for a senior lectureship in Malaysia.
I joke with him that if he wants to be a lecturer in University of Oxford, he has to go to eg, MIT to do a few years of post-doctoral experience and try his luck.

Actually, there are ppl/lecturers in malaysia with such qualification.
Such example is this guy i know. He is doing his phd in cambridge, he got first class all the way to his Meng.. He is under the cambridge commonwealth scholarship, AND he does some supervision sessions(he does this mainly so that he can make some cash to sponsor his studies).. and the best part? he's a BUMI!!! (Im saying this cause u guys like to kutuk and say bumis are no good and stuff..)

According to this guy, he has a friend in his department who's been post doc-ing for several years(7-8, about that) and he has been trying to apply for a teaching post in cambridge. He has, all this while, been unsuccessful and he finally decided to accept a teaching position in another uni in the UK.

And the guy(whom i know)'s current supervisor was actually from christ college. He applied for a teaching position there and was not given a place. he ended up accepting an offer from corpus christi college instead.

My point is, it is not easy to get a teaching post in cambridge, even if u were from the uni(or college, even)!!!

And its ok if u didnt graduate from an overseas uni. My mum, who's working in a local private u, has quite a number of NON-BUMI lecturers working there. There are several lecturers there who're doing their phds in UKM and UM.. And their research stuffs are quite interesting.

[taufiq]

I heard UPM and UiTM are looking for young lecturers and they might be able to sponsor students to further their studies for that purpose.

[digimushu]

In Malaysia, research is so commercialized, it's not even funny. Everything researched has to bear monetary returns in 2-3 years or less. If i say i want to do research on cold fusion, chances are, no one in M'sia will ever fund my research because there is no guaranteed returns.

Research is like fishing. You spend most of your time casting, and sometimes the fish will bite.

[Dr_Tay]

How lecturers are treated in the country from a clip of a comment on the Net:

Lecturers in private colleges constantly spied on
Educator
Apr 10, 06 4:11pm



With regards to senior academic staff and their contributions, what is the situation and scenario in private colleges and universities? In some of private colleges, they are trying very hard to ?ease out? senior and experienced staff that are already under tremendous pressure to perform. They are overloading them to the maximum hours permitted and strict deadlines are set and closely monitored for breach of discipline, for example in the submission of examination questions, marks and reports.

Staff members are constantly spied upon for any minor misdemeanors and frequent meetings are held with students to obtain feedback on any of their negative aspects of their (the lecturers) conduct in classes. Most lecturers are in a stage of siege as employers are now in control with the upper hand.

And what is the reason for this state of affairs that the managements have to adopt such harsh measures? The bottom line is that educational institutions are set up solely to make profits and satisfy their shareholders. With a dwindling enrolment due to the many restrictions imposed by the Education Ministry, experienced senior staff who leave are good news as the institution can then employ another two fresh graduates at tremendous cost savings.

In addition, so-called ?research? is just a big farce in most of private colleges and universities. With contact hours running up to 24 hours a week and sometimes with six hours in a day, there is hardly any time for rest and recovery, let alone research. In one institution, they actually published an annual journal of research papers consisting mainly summarised MSc or PhD theses of existing academic staff and newly recruited ones. As usual, Education Ministry officials were impressed!

Yes, the private sector educational institutions are retaining the PhD holders (mostly retired) with a ?Dr? in front of the names to impress the ministry and the foreign partner universities. Most of them are placed as directors and administrators with no teaching functions at all. The few in the academic line are appointed as deans and some are really square pegs in round holes. Have you heard of the dean in Engineering with a PhD qualification in Polymer Technology who could not tell the difference between a bolt and nut?

So all the talk of quality, holistic and excellence in private education is mainly for publicity?s sake as they are prepared to chase away matured senior staff who after many years of service are on the high end of the salary scale. This is proving to be a big burden for them.

Staff about to retire on reaching the mandatory age are invariably shown the quick exit without even a handshake or a goodbye. For now, experience, knowledge and the wisdom of senior staff could well be sacrificed all in the name of a better profit.

And who would suffer the most but the students

[Nelson]

KUALA LUMPUR: Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed wants to see a greater representation of non-bumiputras in academia.

He has asked public universities to recruit more non-bumiputra lecturers, attract the best brains, and develop a vibrant academic environment.
Source (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/8/30/nation/15280966&sec=nation)

Hope this will be a good news for those who want to be a lecturer. :wink:

[digimushu]

Maybe. If I don't see it happening within the next 2 years, you can be sure that it is just another photo op.

[Dr_Tay]

Tend to agree with you digimushu, don't see it happening at all for the mean time. Just another gambit I guess. Once again politics takes over from education.

[nhling]

Anybody knows whether a graduate from Japanese universities can teach in Malaysian universities? Be it public or private uni.

[meselsohnstahl]

i know a lady who graduated from a japanese uni and is now teaching in an IPTS.

she did chemical engineering, i think, up to her masters. she's now doing her phd and teaching at the same time in malaysia

[Melldoun]

Can I become a lecturer with just a bachelor degree ?

[adele123]

pretty sure you can't just teach other future graduates if you only have undergraduate degree... you need post graduate degree... preferably phd obviously

[runninghorse]

You guys overlooked the fact that one needs to have that talent to teach.

A brilliant researcher may not be a charismatic teacher.


Couldn't agree more with that. But sadly enough in university the teaching skill becomes less of an importance compared to your research profile.

[Melldoun]

pretty sure you can't just teach other future graduates if you only have undergraduate degree... you need post graduate degree... preferably phd obviously


Heeheheh...forgive my foolishness. What is a undergraduate degree and what is a post graduate degree ?

By the way, what is the salary of a lecturer ?