Employment & Prof. Development

Dr. Greg,

I have a question regarding my professional development here in China.

My wife and I moved to China a little less than 2 years ago. I'm American and she's Chinese but we met, got married, and had been living in the States for about 7 years prior to coming here. We had a lot of reasons behind coming here, but primarily we were tired of working too much for too little pay, and we felt that giving China a try couldn't hurt. So in January of 2009 we headed out to China.

My wife, who has an MA from a British university and business-related work experience, has done quite well. She is currently a vice-dean of a joint-venture college. The college she works for has standards that are roughly equivalent to that of the U.S.

As for me, I have a BA in linguistics and a TESOL certificate, but I've only been able to find work as a typical oral English teacher, with the work environment that you've so accurately described in your Guide. Now, I'm not complaining. Thanks to your Guide, I knew what I was getting myself into.

We're quite happy here and intend to stay, long term. The question I have is that, for someone like me, do you see any value in earning an online MA in applied linguistics or TESOL?

I've read your Guide and seen some mention of it for those who intend to teach English for the long haul. But when I've brought up the idea to anyone I trust here they all tell me it'd be a waste of money, that the only result would be I'd go from being a slightly overqualified oral English teacher to an extremely overqualified one, with little change in working conditions and pay.

I'm interested in learning and increasing my knowledge of teaching despite the lack of any kind of support, but if all an MA is going to do is take about 100,000+ yuan out of my pocket and give me a degree that isn't really going to change my employment prospects at all, then is it really worth it?

Thanks in advance for your time.

This is a question that I think many others will benefit from, so I thank you for asking it.

From a strictly financial perspective, you probably would not realize a return on your educational investment in regard to increased salary. At public universities, the typical salary differential between bachelor’s and master’s degreed teachers is between 300 to 400 yuan, tops.

I should think that with an M.A. degree in linguistics or TESOL you would be very competitive for management positions at large private English language school chains—assuming you wanted to go that route (these companies work their DOSes* to death) but I couldn’t tell you off-hand what the salary differential would be. Certainly in terms of gross income, the difference would be much greater than the additional 200 or 300 yuan you would be paid at a public university but, of course, you would also be working much harder and longer for that money. If you do the math, the hourly rate for teaching 16 periods per week over a 34-week academic year at 5,000 yuan per month is considerably higher than earning 8,000 per month for a 18-hour week over 47 to 48 weeks—assuming, of course, the university pays their foreign teachers over the winter and summer vacations. Most still do.

I personally feel that education is never a waste of time or money but from a strictly financial perspective, the real pecuniary value in earning a master’s degree in TESOL or linguistics wouldn’t be fully realized unless you were willing to leave China—and it is in that limited context that I have recommended doing so to current foreign teachers, i.e. , as a way of preparing oneself for teaching ESL in a country other than China.

The only other caveat worth mentioning here is that at least one country, namely the United Arab Emirates, may discriminate against degrees that have been earned online. I read this on a popular EFL teachers’ forum and I have no idea if it’s accurate or not—but it might very well be. Of course, you have no intentions of moving to the UAE or anywhere else outside of China and I am guessing that this bias would not exist, certainly not to the same degree, here in the Middle Kingdom.

I wish I had better news for you. While a master’s degree in TESOL would certainly help you in terms of personal growth and self-fulfillment, it is unlikely you would recoup your financial investment in mainland China unless you were willing to work yourself to death.

Do you live close enough to Hong Kong to commute? If so, that would change matters considerably. The salaries there for an EFL teacher with a master’s degree in TESOL or linguistics would be several times what you can earn in mainland China.

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*Director of Studies

I'm living in Changchun, so I'm about as far away from Hong Kong as one can get while still being in China, unfortunately.

I just have one follow up question: I'm 34 right now and I intend to keep teaching until I am able to retire, which I imagine should be in my mid-sixties. Thus, I'm concerned not only with my short-term employment prospects, but with the long-term as well. Do think there will be any changes in the foreseeable future that would require all university-level foreign English teachers to have at least a master's degree?

I'm not sure about this, but from what I've read online in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan it seems to be increasingly necessary to have one. Do you see the the situation in China eventually following suit?

I enjoy teaching at the college level and would prefer to be able to continue to do so, rather than to be forced at some point to teach at a training center. Thanks again.

I can't predict if a master's degree in linguistics or TESOL would ever be required in China to teach oral English: I am guessing it would not be owing to the relative dearth of such teachers in China.

However, I am aware that it is very much a strong preference at the university level. For example, as a matter of internal policy, Hainan University will only hire foreign English teachers with a master's degree or better--if they can get them.

If you are going to stay in China for the remainder of your career, then the fact that the experience gained from teaching oral English in China is not generalizable to anything else (barring teaching oral English in other parts of Asia) is completely moot. In that case, a master's degree would make you extremely competitive at the university level, although the salary differential would be negligible as I indicated earlier.

I hope this helps.