Can I get a teaching job with an online doctoral degree?

teaching with an online degree

Having taught at a mid-level state university and participated in the hiring of many faculty I would agree that one's chances of landing a tenure-track position at a college of reasonable quality are pretty slim. At my old school there are almost a thousand full-time faculty. None have a degree from an obviously on-line school.

Doctorates in fields in which there are shortages: business, cis, engineering, are in a better position. Not good, but with a chance.

Minorities (except Asians) and women (in some fields) also are in short supply and an on-line doctorate might be sufficient, at least up to the middle tier..

Very often faculty at major or even middling schools that have degrees from purely on-line institutions had the job already (usually via an inside track), and just got the on-line doctorate to get tenure or as window-dressing. Not a career path one can count on.

Otherwise. better get ready to spend a life-time in the basement of the Ivory Tower. The view ain't pretty

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/college

 

Australian Doctorates do not disclose the methodology. There are no universities here, which I am aware of, that deal only in online degrees. Most are B&M's that have distance learning courses. A degree is a degree and the award does not state how it was earned. Neither it should. If you have met the requirements, why is the methodology important?

The employment stakes are a little different. It seems, here anyway, that it is not so much the degree but the networks that count. If you attend the university, you are more likely to have those networks. The more prestiguous the university, the more influential the networks. These networks attract grants and consultancies.

There are other ways to get these networks. One of the most effective is the chosen profession. The military seem to do this well. Police aren't too bad here in the criminal justice area. Another string to the employment stakes is attendance at conferences and presention of papers. The more publications and presentations, the wider the recognition factor.

It is my view that two networks are required for effectiveness in most things. Peer recognition in the profession and attendance at conferences may be an effective tool to obtain an offer in academia here. I guess the trick is to make the degree a tick in the box, rather than the criteria for evaluation. I think most get the job by invitation.

My evaluation tenure track here is that it is not really worth the effort. I guess it depends if you really want to teach at a university. Industry would pay more. Trades here are the goldmine. This country is critically short of tradespeople and some really, really serious money is getting paid. US tradespeople should seriously think about a working holiday!