The Value of Postgraduate Diplomas in Academia

There was a thread not too long ago concerning the +/- of a second masters degree when applying for community college faculty positions. I have a similar questions pertaining to postgraduate diplomas.

I see that many DL programs from foreign universities also offer a postgraduate diplomas in their MSc/MA programs. Esssentially it is the a MSc/MA minus the dissertation.

I am considering a job in teaching at the community college level and I wanted know if this award would be taken seriously since we don't have such awards in the US.

I know that a few of you are FT/PT faculty at community colleges and some have been on hiring commitiees. Say I applied for a FT CC position to teach Sociology were only two candidates applied. (I know realistically more than just two would apply, but just go along with me here)

I had a MA in Political Science and a PG Diploma in Sociology.

The other candidate had a MA in Sociology and no other PG award of any kind.

Everything else being equal, would I stand a chance.

 

There are two things that come to mind as a result of your question. The first is that I'm told that you generally need 18 credits in a specific area in order to teach in that area. A Postgrad Diploma in an alternate area could give you those credits thereby qualifying you to teach in two areas rather than just one. This might make you a more attractive candidate for a job. Secondly, Postgrad Diplomas are sometimes used to switch areas of interest so that a person with, let's say, a Masters degree in area "A" could earn a Postgrad Diploma in area "B" and thereby make themselves eligible for a PhD program in area B.
Jack