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 Lecturer's salary and prospects in Malaysia

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thesoothsayer
post Jul 11 2015, 10:08 PM

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QUOTE(babyJab @ Jun 30 2015, 03:03 PM)
what makes you changed your mind? care to share?
*
Many reasons for me. Some are probably specific to my university and situation, but I can't be really sure.

1. Heavy teaching load.

Teaching load looks light, but it's actually very heavy for me.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I spend a lot of time preparing for my lectures. I actually found that parts of the lecture materials that I inherited are plain wrong, and I spend a lot of time going through them. I hate it when lecturers just "wing it" in class, by recycling materials from other subjects, chatting bullshit, and/or teaching the wrong things to students.

I also make videos for my lectures for students to review after classes with online quizzes.

I estimate an hour of lecture takes me about 4-5 hours to prepare nowadays, including online videos and quizzes. At the start, probably 6-10 hours.

All this is still fine, but I'm supposed to handle labs and tutorials as well. This means repeating the same lab or tutorials up to 10 times for different groups of students. This is a big waste of time, but my university refuses to hire lab demonstrators and tutors. Each lab takes 3 hours, while tutorials are 1 hour each.

There's no time to develop new materials.

2. No time for quality publication and research.

Due to the heavy teaching loads, most people here rely on their students to do their research work for them.

My university doesn't really care about the quality of publication as long as you publish something. However, I do.

I don't have time to work on the quality of journal papers that I want, and students who are doing post-graduate studies are really not up to my expectations so far, mainly because of the poor quality of classes in local universities.

I don't want to play the games played by most people here in terms of publication. For them, it's survival. For me, I took a huge paycut to come to teach and do quality research.

Many just take the work of their students, and send them to low-tier journals that charge exorbitant publishing fees, but meets their KPIs.

3. Administrative paperwork.

There's too much paperwork. I feel swamped and irritated.

I wouldn't mind if I thought that they were worthwhile doing, but most are just a waste of time. The university can easily hire administrators to do them, but the management here thinks that lecturers are not doing much so they should be fully "loaded".

4. Grading "guidelines".

The university has some grading "guidelines" that they force all lecturers to follow. This would be fine if it was really just a guideline. However, it's strictly enforced, which means that you'll be forced to justify the marks repeatedly with long reports that may not be accepted by management. In which case, someone will have to remark until it meets the targets.

This has led to many manipulating the marks to meet the "guidelines" to avoid double or triple work.

For me, it's plain stupid and has led to untrustworthy data.

I've voiced out my concerns multiple times, but to no avail.

5. Plain bad management.

My university's management is so bad, that they issued instructions that put the health and safety of staff in jeopardy. This is probably specific to my current university's scenario.

I know there are many dedicated lecturers who soldier on, but they are staying in spite of the management rather than because of the management.

What I feel is that staff are looked at as cheap-ish labour here. However, I can't blame the management for this point of view as staff are so afraid to voice out their concerns. They just take it quietly. You'd be surprised that the academic staff with all sorts of professional qualifications are afraid to take a stand against management, even if ordered to do something unsafe or wrong.


Ooi
post Feb 24 2016, 10:07 PM

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So whats the average pay for fresh postdoc keen on lecturing?
Kimichi
post Jul 11 2016, 10:57 AM

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Hi all,

Anyone know how to get a part time job as a Lecturer. I don't think many university posting part time jobs.
Win Win Inspiration
post Jul 11 2016, 11:55 AM

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This is a truly good thread on the J&C Section.
Would keen to know more about entering the Path of Academics.
mm tan
post Aug 17 2016, 03:43 PM

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QUOTE(pinkdevil88 @ Mar 1 2010, 12:16 AM)
Hey guys, I understand that in IPTA without a masters i could not be a lecturer. Hence in my case, I should join IPTS first, get some experience and get a phd and then join IPTA. Is this a good decision?? btw, i am doing my ACCA currently and still have 3 papers pending. Would taking up a professional qualification helps as a lecturer??

Also I have read a lot of threads in this forum that said there is no discrimination or quota of whatsoever in the hiring on lecturers and promotion. Hoever i just came across a very disturbing article and would like to share it here. Please give me some feedback. thanks a lot.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why Public Malaysian Universities will Never Improve

by ex-researcher

I used to work in a Malaysian university holding a professorial post on contract. I could not be confirmed because I do not have a SPM (more later). I worked in research dealing with stem cells but left after 3 years despite the offer of renewal for another 2 years. I am a Malaysian Chinese who spent nearly 20 years overseas in some of the big name universities in Australia and the UK.

After observing the system from the inside I can tell you that Malaysian universities will never improve, and whatever improvement you see will not last. I will set out my reasons in a concise manner.

1) Staff are not hire on merit

I’ve noticed that most the new staff hired are Malays. There are very few Chinese and Indian staff on tenure track. Infact most of the non-Malays I came across are hired on contract. It does not take a genius to know that if you don’t put people on tenure, they will not give their best.

One day I asked a DVC in private why there are so few non-Malay staff on tenure. I was surprised when he told me directly that there was an unofficial quota. He further told me that there is a lot of resistance from the junior Malay staff when non-Malays come in because they perceived the non-Malays are better researchers and academics. He also told me that good non-Malay staff go overseas, especially to Singapore so they do not want to waste their time in hiring non-Malay staff. I do not if this is true.

2) No research culture since promotion is not based on research

Despite all the talk by the Minister, there is no research culture. Infact, most local academics are not interested in research. A few of the Malay academics told me straight in the face that they like group or cluster research because it is “easier”. They don’t go for excellence or individual research. They also tell me that promotion is based on administrative work and “cables” to the Minister or VC. In fact a few of them tell me that good researchers are punished by the whole group because they make the others look bad or lazy. Thus no matter how good you are when you join, by putting you in a “research group” they are slowing the good ones down and before you know it, they become part of the group culture.

In the university where I was working, the VC or DVC did not published a single paper in an international referred journal. Except for one DVC, the VC and the other DVC do not even have a single book. The DVC with a book is a textbook in Malay and when I looked at it, I realized that it was mainly translation he passed off as his own work. Two of the DVC were active with UMNO and the VC is a relative of an UMNO strongman. Thus the “cable” theory appears to be true.

A retired Malay professor told me the most important criteria for promotion is “how you get along with people”. He also told me if you are good, they will bring you down because if the universities have standards, then they cannot survive in their jobs. In his own words, more than 4/5 of the current university staff will never be able to get academic jobs in a real university.

3) Pettiness and Jealously

The Malay culture is based in group behaviour and gossip and during my time there, I noticed that even academic staff took a lot of time in gossiping about nonsense. Most of the female academic staff used gossip to bring down capable people. For example, one Malay guy who just came back with his PhD had to endure a lot of gossip, all because one female academic staff complained that he did not hold a kenduri to celebrate his successful completion of PhD.

Another time, all the academic staff, including the Dean, ganged up against me because I had managed to published a paper in a leading international journal. Immediately after my name was mentioned by the VC as an example, the Dean started telling other academic staff that I did not “contribute enough” to the faculty.

I was under the impression that I was there to do research and publish but for these people, who cannot do research, the priority was on social events. This Dean was not even an academic in the first place but was a civil servant before he was appointed Dean. All the academics he has appointed since he became Dean all come from his state and all are local graduates. So how to improve?

There are many more things I want to say but these are the main reasons why Malaysian universities have no hope of ever being world class. As long as everything is based on race, pettiness and not on merit, I cannot see a way out.

I am writing this not out of frustration ( I am now overseas) but to also show why local universities waste so much money joining the Geneva Exhibitions and the like (as reported in the newspapers). The sad truth is when you have people who cannot publish in real academic journals, then they play silly games like join exhibitions.

The USM DVC who defended this practice would be laughed at if he was at a real university. In fact, to be frank, people like him cannot get a real academic job in Singapore, NZ or US. He is a symbol of what is wrong at local universities.

In sum, you have the blind leading the blind.
*
fair enough your comments..but this country is not fair enough..
"get along with it"... haha
kamilnu
post Aug 18 2016, 09:30 PM

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Lecturers are paid low salaries....but then again the only thing they do is just talk.
LovelyPotato
post Jan 10 2017, 10:45 AM

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Hi everyone, I'm 24 this year with a B.Eng degree. I've been working full time for the past 2 years in small and large corporate and I hate the working life of a full time corporate staff. I'm thinking of going for a MBA or other master degree and head toward lecturer path.

I don't value money as much as long as I have enough to spend for daily consumption and prefer more flexible time for myself and family. I'm thinking of getting my master degree in UM and work it out from there.

One of the biggest concern for me is that will there be any office politics working as lecturer at University?
jack~daniel
post Jan 10 2017, 07:08 PM

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QUOTE(Kimichi @ Jul 11 2016, 10:57 AM)
Hi all,

Anyone know how to get a part time job as a Lecturer. I don't think many university posting part time jobs.
*
If you know head dept, you'll be able to get part-time lecturer job, when I was student, 40% of lecturers in my dept were part time lecs.
jack~daniel
post Jan 10 2017, 07:09 PM

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QUOTE(LovelyPotato @ Jan 10 2017, 10:45 AM)
Hi everyone, I'm 24 this year with a B.Eng degree. I've been working full time for the past 2 years in small and large corporate and I hate the working life of a full time corporate staff. I'm thinking of going for a MBA or other master degree and head toward lecturer path.

I don't value money as much as long as I have enough to spend for daily consumption and prefer more flexible time for myself and family. I'm thinking of getting my master degree in UM and work it out from there.

One of the biggest concern for me is that will there be any office politics working as lecturer at University?
*
If you work in public uni, then the answr is yes. Bumis will get a priority.Try not to against najib and rosmah...

This post has been edited by jack~daniel: Jan 10 2017, 07:10 PM
Ralna
post Jan 10 2017, 07:34 PM

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QUOTE(LovelyPotato @ Jan 10 2017, 10:45 AM)
Hi everyone, I'm 24 this year with a B.Eng degree. I've been working full time for the past 2 years in small and large corporate and I hate the working life of a full time corporate staff. I'm thinking of going for a MBA or other master degree and head toward lecturer path.

I don't value money as much as long as I have enough to spend for daily consumption and prefer more flexible time for myself and family. I'm thinking of getting my master degree in UM and work it out from there.

One of the biggest concern for me is that will there be any office politics working as lecturer at University?
*
Office politics will always be there, the real question is how bad it is. If it doesn't affect you much, then just concentrate on your work and do your job properly.
If it does, well, there are also ways to handle or avoid office politics. Just need to be street smart.
thesoothsayer
post Jul 9 2017, 11:46 PM

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QUOTE(LovelyPotato @ Jan 10 2017, 10:45 AM)
Hi everyone, I'm 24 this year with a B.Eng degree. I've been working full time for the past 2 years in small and large corporate and I hate the working life of a full time corporate staff. I'm thinking of going for a MBA or other master degree and head toward lecturer path.

I don't value money as much as long as I have enough to spend for daily consumption and prefer more flexible time for myself and family. I'm thinking of getting my master degree in UM and work it out from there.

One of the biggest concern for me is that will there be any office politics working as lecturer at University?
*
Of course there is.
Administrative work will normally be pushed to the new people. Harder to get grants if you don't have support from the Dean or Head of departments.

You'll probably be allocated the subjects no one wants.
mr.thinkpad
post Jul 10 2017, 03:53 PM

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QUOTE(LovelyPotato @ Jan 10 2017, 10:45 AM)
Hi everyone, I'm 24 this year with a B.Eng degree. I've been working full time for the past 2 years in small and large corporate and I hate the working life of a full time corporate staff. I'm thinking of going for a MBA or other master degree and head toward lecturer path.

I don't value money as much as long as I have enough to spend for daily consumption and prefer more flexible time for myself and family. I'm thinking of getting my master degree in UM and work it out from there.

One of the biggest concern for me is that will there be any office politics working as lecturer at University?
*
should just self-employed if u scare about working politics
Moshpit94
post Aug 21 2017, 12:14 AM

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Dear all,

I am very interested to be a lecturer as one of my mindset is to contribute back to the society.

I am currently graduated as Software Engineer from UTP and currently working in one of the top GLCs in Malaysia (not related to oil n gas) as a programmer. I am thinking to pursue my masters in UM in Computer Science coursework part timers. I do plan to work in KL until i have 5-6 years experience in industry then I would like to migrate back to Kedah and be a lecturer in UUM.

I do have a lot of ideas for future research and also I do have a lot of passion in teaching as I would like to produce students with a Google's employees mindset and also to contribute to state government I'm in in terms of technology businesses. I don't want to stay in KL due to heavy traffic, less time with future family et cetra.


So my question, with those industrial experience and with masters in hands as software engineer coursework. The range of salary is how much as a start. I dont want to talk about salary but i do need to plan my financial, i don't expect too high like industry but i just want to plan what i am capable to spend in future please understand this mindset dear Malaysians. Plus is it okay enough with those industrial experience to be a lecturer?

I am currently 23 years old with 9 months working experience as full stack programmer in web-based,.NET, configure servers and netwotk et cetra. I also have the portfolio in teaching people multimedia relatee stuff such as photoshop, videography, photography as my part time to survive here in KL and i do find a LOT of passion in teaching and sharing plus motivate my students.


Please share what you guys think and direction for me as I'm still learning a lot plus quite young for my age but i just want to plan ahead. Thanks dear prof / dr / ir / etc
pejakb
post Aug 22 2017, 05:39 PM

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in IPTA, PHD holder usually get DS51 (pensyarah kanan)post and basic salary starting at +- rm6k . Master holder is DS45 , and basic salary +-rm3000.

This post has been edited by pejakb: Aug 22 2017, 05:41 PM
learntoread
post Sep 8 2017, 09:09 PM

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QUOTE(pejakb @ Aug 22 2017, 05:39 PM)
in IPTA, PHD holder usually get DS51 (pensyarah kanan)post and basic salary starting at +- rm6k . Master holder is DS45  , and basic salary +-rm3000.
*
IPTA will not take Master Degree holders as much as possible, they prefer PhD holders for university ranking purpose.
ayamback
post Oct 31 2017, 10:48 AM

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QUOTE(thesoothsayer @ Jun 7 2015, 11:04 AM)
After 2.5 years, I've had a complete change of mind and have resigned from my position.

It's good to stay back if you're keen on gaming the system and having an "easy-ish" life or to retire after years abroad, but not if you're serious about doing good work.

Speaking about my experience at a private "research" university here. A government university may be different, but I've no desire to try it out anymore.
*
where did u end up doing after resigning, @thesoothsayer?

This post has been edited by ayamback: Oct 31 2017, 10:49 AM
thesoothsayer
post Oct 31 2017, 11:07 AM

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QUOTE(ayamback @ Oct 31 2017, 10:48 AM)
where did u end up doing after resigning, @thesoothsayer?
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Back to industry.
party
post Oct 31 2017, 12:14 PM

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QUOTE(learntoread @ Sep 8 2017, 09:09 PM)
IPTA will not take Master Degree holders as much as possible, they prefer PhD holders for university ranking purpose.
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They have change their approach a little. They take master with a bond stating the holder will pursue phd within x years and all expense will be covered or by x amount n in return bonded eith the said U x years. Voila..the IPTA has a lot phd now.
ayamback
post Nov 2 2017, 09:28 PM

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QUOTE(thesoothsayer @ Oct 31 2017, 11:07 AM)
Back to industry.
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In Malaysia? May I know what field?

Asking for a friend considering a position at an IPTA.
TT22
post Nov 2 2017, 11:04 PM

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Anyone heard about Skim Fellowship now?

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