I need your help please!

I am an online adjunct faculty member at a couple of online universities. I would like to be able to compete for the full time online teaching positions, and even Assistant Dean/Dean positions in the future. My research indicates that I need a PhD in order to achieve the aforementioned goals. I currently have a Master's Degree in General Psychology and am finishing up a Post-Master's Certificate in Online Teaching. My question is, which PhD would be best for me given my background and career goals. I have read a lot about how online instructions should be "subject-matter experts"; thus, I was thinking I should continue in Psychology. My Certificate will transfer into a PhD in General Psych : Education Track at Walden University. On the other hand, all of my work experience is in teaching (ESL in face-to-face classes, Spanish tutoring and English and Psych classes online); thus, would it make more sense to get the PhD in Education? I have talked to many enrollment advisers, but have not been able to get some solid guidance. I plan to begin a PhD at the end of this summer. The most cost effective would be the PhD I mentioned from Walden, but I also want to make sure that the choice I make sets me up to have a chance at the career options I mentioned.

Thank you so much in advance for your responses :smile:

All the best,
Lisa

 

Hi Lisa - Here's my simple answer to your question: Check out the websites of the universities or types of universities where you'd like to work. Pick at least 30. Then look at the people who have the sorts of job you'd like to have. Look at their credentials. What type of degree do they have?

Then do the same.

 

Thank you so much! This sounds like great advice and I will take it. I appreciate your help.

All the best,
Lisa

 

Good advice, Kiz.

 

Enrollment advisers are useless because they are salespeople and not real academic advisers. I'm not surprised that you received little help from them.

You are in a situation similar to mine; your experience is in teaching but you are unsure of the market for an individual with a doctorate in education. I have been a teacher for a number of years and I'm currently working on an EdD, the other doctorate in education. The problem with getting an education doctorate is the fact that the education industry, because of state budgets, is in a shambles and there are not enough jobs for the teachers that are already trained and credentialed. The main online teaching job for an EdD holder would be training new teachers. Because of this, I foresee that the need for online instructors in education might be fairly weak for a number of years. There will always be the employed teachers working to improve their education with master's degrees or higher, but I suspect that the new teacher training will be fairly weak for an unforeseen number of years. Training new teachers is likely at least half of the online market for classes. I'm hoping that the situation will improve in a few years by the time I have finished my degree.

However, you are correct about the importance of experience in the field in which you will be teaching. If you merely have a doctorate in psychology but no practical experience as a counselor, your chances of being able to teach are relatively slim.

The giant thing you have in your favor is considerable experience teaching online and especially teaching psych online. (I wish I had some online teaching experience!) I would think that fact would give you a significant edge over your competitionh. For that reason, you could possibly pull off the transition to psyche. I wish we could all see into the future to know what the best plan is! (or maybe just to see a lottery number!)

 

Thank you for your insights and advice! I agree that I should try to maximize my online teaching experience in terms of pursuing my future goals. I have also seen online PhD programs in Education focusing on Online learning. Does anyone think that these types of programs are worth it? My qualms are more about the rapid rate of change in technology. What if I study for a PhD in online learning, finish the program, and then all of the learning platforms change completely? SurfDoctor, feel free to email me and I can tell you more about how I got started with online teaching. I'm not sure still how this forum works, but I think you can send me a secure message, no?

Thanks,
Lisa