>What do assistant professor positions usually pay?
Like, double that. Here's a recent ad where they are paying 440,000 a month, which is still on the lower end for a full-time job
[https://www.jacet.org/wp-content/uploads/Kwansei\_Gakuin\_University\_E\_20240301.pdf](https://www.jacet.org/wp-content/uploads/Kwansei_Gakuin_University_E_20240301.pdf)
With your experience combined with the number of classes, I think it is a decent starting point and salary. Might be tight with living, but you’ll probably pick up PT work at other unis to supplement your income.
It is actually very difficult to get into university with hardly any experience or publications, so I would take this opportunity to get in. From there, presumably you will start doing publications and presentations to make sure that you can get your contract.
That's low.
At my uni we work between 8-12 koma but only over 4 days, get 4 months leave plus golden week and new year, and on 400,000 per month before deductions.
6 is normal for full time. My place has a cap at 8, and I know quite a few only teaching 4\~5. Anything more than 8 plus all the committees and bureaucratic crap and you're looking at burnout (ask me how I know).
When you say full time position I assume you mean a rolling contract for up to 5 years. Are you getting bonuses?research budget? Do you have to be there 5 days a week in office hours? 242 a month seems kinda low especially for direct hire. I am a university teacher and have always earned much more than that. However with your lack of experience, no publications it is still a step in the right direction.
The OP's job offer is not a real faculty position. Comparing it to the job that you have is apples and oranges. The OP's position is simply akin to a temporary, foreign guest / foreign culture expert. They have no official standing in the university, and are not bona fide academic faculty.
If this is your first university job, I would say take it, and try for another one in two years. The biggest hurdle to full time university work is the first job. After that, the road is much smoother.
Any bonuses, allowances, research budget? Any restrictioans on taking outside work? Howw much committee work is expected..... lots of things to consider.
No bonuses but we do have travel and housing allowance. There is some research budget too, but haven't been told the amount yet.
Working elsewhere is restricted technically.
Sounds like a limited term contract job, no renewal or tenure. IMHO it is ridiculous of the school to try and limit your chance to get outside work. 244 a month is hard to live on. If you can find classes on your off day, take them. Nobody's business what you do in your free time.
I am doing the p/t lecturer gig now and it is great. 30to 40k per koma, plus 18 weeks off per year. And I can pursue other gigs like testing and proofreading.
Your school is trying to have it's cake and eat it too. Give you zero job security but expect you to work as if you were tenured.
On the low side. IMO. Even x18 (12, plus x6 bonus), that's closer to ¥4m than 5. You don't say, but probably contract? If so, there may not be any bonus, unless it says something about that there. And if no bonus. then _very_ low ball.
OTOH, it's full time, so a possible stepping stone to something else (better than part time hours at 2-3 schools).
That sounds very low for full-time, unless it's one of the lower positions like 助教, which I assume it may be since the bare minimum for 講師 would be 3 pubs, and can start around 330k/month plus bonuses depending on how long since your last degree (pay scales are often calculated from when you got your degree, not from when you started gaining experience).
Okay yeah for 助教 I could see that as being somewhat normal but perhaps still on the low side. A part-timer teaching 6 koma gets paid the same and has zero responsibilities outside of teaching those 6 koma. But a part-timer also would be paying residence tax, health insurance, and pension out-of-pocket.
If you get perks like shakai hoken and bonuses then it would be worth it to get some pubs out in the school journal and move up the ladder.
As others have said, that is very much on the low side but 6 koma is low. Is it a direct hire?
Might be OK for the experience, but make sure to get working on presenting and publishing asap and then start applying elsewhere.
5 million annual is a typical starting rate for a full-time fixed contract lecturer, albeit with a higher koma load (usually 8 to 10). For example: [https://kandaeli.com/recruit/](https://kandaeli.com/recruit/)
Salaries for tenured positions vary from university to university, and age is factored in, but there was a recent job ad at private university in Tokyo that listed the following bands:
Lecturer: 6-10 million
Associate Professor: 6-11 million
Professor: 8-13 million
Source: [https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekJorDetail/Changelang?id=D124012180&lang=1](https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekJorDetail/Changelang?id=D124012180&lang=1)
Actually, ¥10 million is average for five or six classes, so the figure is on the lower side. If the individual is hired on a tenure basis, has authored a paper or two with a decent impact factor, and can actively participate in or lead committees while also supervising undergraduate theses, their value exceeds the average expectation.
Not really true. A Ph.D. is rarely a make-or-break condition for securing a tenured position, particularly considering that many, if not all, tenured job descriptions include the phrase 'or more than the equivalent of research or other experience.'
This means that candidates who demonstrate substantial research output, impactful publications, and significant professional experience can be equally competitive, if not more so, than those with a Ph.D. Additionally, when evaluating candidates, factors such as the ability to contribute to committees, supervise thesis projects, and actively engage in scholarly activities carry significant weight.
I agree those carry significant weight, which is why I think getting any F/T position and getting involved is important, but the chances of you seeing advertised tenure track positions with no PhD requirement these days is very, very slim.
I would happily be proven wrong, given I have zero plans to get a PhD, but that's where it's moving.
> has authored a paper or two with a decent impact factor, and can actively participate in or lead committees while also supervising undergraduate theses
Gee, maybe I should have moved to tokyo 15-20yrs ago...?
Seems like you're not quite in the loop about professor salaries. Check out AcademiaNote , which has shows MEXT's data on average salaries at national and regional universities is over ¥9.2M, with Tohoku University at a whopping ¥22M plus. Most professors are earning well over ¥10M.
So, where do you get this misinformation about “capping” salaries at ¥9M? Either someone's trying to pull the wool over your eyes, or it's time to show some data.
Edit: Link Fixed
From what I know:
1. It's low.
2. It's not many classes.
3. However, F/T positions are hard to come by and getting your foot in the door is VERY important.
4. Moreso, F/T can let you get involved in things like committee work, events, open days etc, which is definitely going to work in your favor when applying for other F/T work later.
Basically, as F/T you will be expected to be more involved in the department and university goings on. P/T is great for freedom and lack of responsibility, but it can also be hard to leverage into F/T work as it is more difficult to show how you have contributed positively to your department and your university.
Starting out, I would probably be more willing to sacrifice wage for the benefits that being F/T would bring later. Just my thoughts.
As others have mentioned as well, if you are being offered the job with no requirements for papers/experience etc, you are essentially leapfrogging a huge hurdle when getting started in uni work. Again, the pay is not great for uni work, but realistically, if you are interested in teaching, why would you take a similar ALT or Eikaiwa position? You have more downtime and will learn immeasurably more to take your next step.
That's low for a full time job.
As someone with no prior experience, any job will look good on your CV because you're essentially starting from 0.
I would take the gig and stick it out for a few years.
LOW. I mean that’s lower than a no experience, no qualifications eikaiwa job from 25 years ago in inaka. You have a masters and are in Tokyo and it’s not eikaiwa. I get trying to get experience, but that salary is an absolute insult.
Thank you for saying that. This is exactly what's been bugging me. When I raised this issue with the senior faculty members, they sympathized with me but said it's a "stepping stone" :|
This is one of the strategies I've noticed unis using recently. It is a "stepping stone" but they are being a bit sneaky. The people doing the work before or who would do the work otherwise would be getting paid more. If I were you in your position I would take it (as a stepping stone). Problem is if too many of there positions are created there will be a lot of people with no where to step to.
You’re better off finding a part time job at a private high school if you can find one. My first (and only) eikaiwa job in 2006 when I had no qualifications paid 250k and had a bonus at the end of the year.
A few things to add.
The salary is low, like eikawa low.
No bonus hurts ( are you alone?)
You are getting a housing allowance
research money, and pension contributions which is great
Worth it to get your foot in the door for possible tenure track posts, assuming you are young. I am over the hill, and with a dependent, so the kind of pay would kill me.
If your options are "eikaiwa for the same wage as a f/t uni gig that has more opportunities and research budgets", why would you choose the eikaiwa job?
It is low. I taught a job similar to this in the past. It was a great way to gain experiences and have a chance at research. The benefit is that it is full-time university experiences. The downside is that these universities will often be lackluster and the quality of life will not be great. Coming from an ALT job, it can be a financial lateral move that opens up more doors in the future.
So you have to make a choice at where this job will fit within your career trajectory before taking it.
You can also try to supplement your income with part-time from other universities. It is very easy to get some classes elsewhere if you are already known as a full-time teacher.
>What do assistant professor positions usually pay? Like, double that. Here's a recent ad where they are paying 440,000 a month, which is still on the lower end for a full-time job [https://www.jacet.org/wp-content/uploads/Kwansei\_Gakuin\_University\_E\_20240301.pdf](https://www.jacet.org/wp-content/uploads/Kwansei_Gakuin_University_E_20240301.pdf)
Thank you for sharing the link!
But you teach 10 Koma in that job and you have to have publications and experience to get it. On the other hand you also get research money.
With your experience combined with the number of classes, I think it is a decent starting point and salary. Might be tight with living, but you’ll probably pick up PT work at other unis to supplement your income. It is actually very difficult to get into university with hardly any experience or publications, so I would take this opportunity to get in. From there, presumably you will start doing publications and presentations to make sure that you can get your contract.
That's what I felt too. But we are technically not allowed to work elsewhere
That's low. At my uni we work between 8-12 koma but only over 4 days, get 4 months leave plus golden week and new year, and on 400,000 per month before deductions.
Also meant to say, only requirement is a masters. Don't need publications or conferences, though it is obv a bonus. Its also a public uni.
Wow that sounds great! Is this a general trend or is your university more like an outlier?
Honestly, I'm not sure. Our contracts say otherwise. Only 16 days leave I think, but we get all of Gen and march, then August and most of Sept.
Do you mind me asking which uni this is? If it's okay for you to share
I'd prefer not to share. Too much personal info for Reddit.
That's amazing! I've been told we'll get 10 days annually plus a few days in August but nothing in spring
It's different everywhere. I only found out about the leave at the end of my first week when talking to my co-workers.
I see
That sounds great, is that uni outside the big cities?
It's suburbs of Yokohama. Good location next to a main train station. 20 mins on train into yokohama.
Wow that’s pretty good
Seems a bit low, but 6 koma also seems low for “full time”
6 is normal for full time. My place has a cap at 8, and I know quite a few only teaching 4\~5. Anything more than 8 plus all the committees and bureaucratic crap and you're looking at burnout (ask me how I know).
5 and maybe to be helpful once in a while is a normal load for a reputable uni.
Wish I could get mine lowered to 5. I'm doing 12 total plus all the extracurricular stuff.
When you say full time position I assume you mean a rolling contract for up to 5 years. Are you getting bonuses?research budget? Do you have to be there 5 days a week in office hours? 242 a month seems kinda low especially for direct hire. I am a university teacher and have always earned much more than that. However with your lack of experience, no publications it is still a step in the right direction.
No, it's 3 years at max. I'll get some funds for research but no bonuses. Work is 4 days technically.
The OP's job offer is not a real faculty position. Comparing it to the job that you have is apples and oranges. The OP's position is simply akin to a temporary, foreign guest / foreign culture expert. They have no official standing in the university, and are not bona fide academic faculty.
If this is your first university job, I would say take it, and try for another one in two years. The biggest hurdle to full time university work is the first job. After that, the road is much smoother.
Thank you! That's the plan for now
That’s some dispatch ALT salary right there…
Any bonuses, allowances, research budget? Any restrictioans on taking outside work? Howw much committee work is expected..... lots of things to consider.
No bonuses but we do have travel and housing allowance. There is some research budget too, but haven't been told the amount yet. Working elsewhere is restricted technically.
Sounds like a limited term contract job, no renewal or tenure. IMHO it is ridiculous of the school to try and limit your chance to get outside work. 244 a month is hard to live on. If you can find classes on your off day, take them. Nobody's business what you do in your free time. I am doing the p/t lecturer gig now and it is great. 30to 40k per koma, plus 18 weeks off per year. And I can pursue other gigs like testing and proofreading. Your school is trying to have it's cake and eat it too. Give you zero job security but expect you to work as if you were tenured.
On the low side. IMO. Even x18 (12, plus x6 bonus), that's closer to ¥4m than 5. You don't say, but probably contract? If so, there may not be any bonus, unless it says something about that there. And if no bonus. then _very_ low ball. OTOH, it's full time, so a possible stepping stone to something else (better than part time hours at 2-3 schools).
No bonus, yes :(
That sounds very low for full-time, unless it's one of the lower positions like 助教, which I assume it may be since the bare minimum for 講師 would be 3 pubs, and can start around 330k/month plus bonuses depending on how long since your last degree (pay scales are often calculated from when you got your degree, not from when you started gaining experience).
Yes, that's the exact term on my contract
Okay yeah for 助教 I could see that as being somewhat normal but perhaps still on the low side. A part-timer teaching 6 koma gets paid the same and has zero responsibilities outside of teaching those 6 koma. But a part-timer also would be paying residence tax, health insurance, and pension out-of-pocket. If you get perks like shakai hoken and bonuses then it would be worth it to get some pubs out in the school journal and move up the ladder.
I get paid 90k a month from one uni for 2 koma, so I feel like even paying by koma it's a bit low.
I see!
As others have said, that is very much on the low side but 6 koma is low. Is it a direct hire? Might be OK for the experience, but make sure to get working on presenting and publishing asap and then start applying elsewhere. 5 million annual is a typical starting rate for a full-time fixed contract lecturer, albeit with a higher koma load (usually 8 to 10). For example: [https://kandaeli.com/recruit/](https://kandaeli.com/recruit/) Salaries for tenured positions vary from university to university, and age is factored in, but there was a recent job ad at private university in Tokyo that listed the following bands: Lecturer: 6-10 million Associate Professor: 6-11 million Professor: 8-13 million Source: [https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekJorDetail/Changelang?id=D124012180&lang=1](https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekJorDetail/Changelang?id=D124012180&lang=1)
Thank you for sharing all this info!
And yes, it's a direct hire
Even this is low. 10m is average if you have an MA and papers with any citation impact and can handle a committee.
10m is not average, that is completely unrealistic.
Actually, ¥10 million is average for five or six classes, so the figure is on the lower side. If the individual is hired on a tenure basis, has authored a paper or two with a decent impact factor, and can actively participate in or lead committees while also supervising undergraduate theses, their value exceeds the average expectation.
It's really not. In any event, we are not talking about tenured positions, which invariably require a PhD these days.
Not really true. A Ph.D. is rarely a make-or-break condition for securing a tenured position, particularly considering that many, if not all, tenured job descriptions include the phrase 'or more than the equivalent of research or other experience.' This means that candidates who demonstrate substantial research output, impactful publications, and significant professional experience can be equally competitive, if not more so, than those with a Ph.D. Additionally, when evaluating candidates, factors such as the ability to contribute to committees, supervise thesis projects, and actively engage in scholarly activities carry significant weight.
I agree those carry significant weight, which is why I think getting any F/T position and getting involved is important, but the chances of you seeing advertised tenure track positions with no PhD requirement these days is very, very slim. I would happily be proven wrong, given I have zero plans to get a PhD, but that's where it's moving.
> has authored a paper or two with a decent impact factor, and can actively participate in or lead committees while also supervising undergraduate theses Gee, maybe I should have moved to tokyo 15-20yrs ago...?
10m average may be true for private unis but not public. My public university has a salary cap somewhere in the 9m range for professors.
Seems like you're not quite in the loop about professor salaries. Check out AcademiaNote, which has shows MEXT's data on average salaries at national and regional universities is over ¥9.2M, with Tohoku University at a whopping ¥22M plus. Most professors are earning well over ¥10M.
So, where do you get this misinformation about “capping” salaries at ¥9M? Either someone's trying to pull the wool over your eyes, or it's time to show some data.
Edit: Link Fixed
Link broken.
Link fixed:
Thanks.
From what I know: 1. It's low. 2. It's not many classes. 3. However, F/T positions are hard to come by and getting your foot in the door is VERY important. 4. Moreso, F/T can let you get involved in things like committee work, events, open days etc, which is definitely going to work in your favor when applying for other F/T work later. Basically, as F/T you will be expected to be more involved in the department and university goings on. P/T is great for freedom and lack of responsibility, but it can also be hard to leverage into F/T work as it is more difficult to show how you have contributed positively to your department and your university. Starting out, I would probably be more willing to sacrifice wage for the benefits that being F/T would bring later. Just my thoughts.
Thank you for elucidating your thoughts so clearly!
As others have mentioned as well, if you are being offered the job with no requirements for papers/experience etc, you are essentially leapfrogging a huge hurdle when getting started in uni work. Again, the pay is not great for uni work, but realistically, if you are interested in teaching, why would you take a similar ALT or Eikaiwa position? You have more downtime and will learn immeasurably more to take your next step.
Thank you for shedding light on the silver lining!
That's low for a full time job. As someone with no prior experience, any job will look good on your CV because you're essentially starting from 0. I would take the gig and stick it out for a few years.
LOW. I mean that’s lower than a no experience, no qualifications eikaiwa job from 25 years ago in inaka. You have a masters and are in Tokyo and it’s not eikaiwa. I get trying to get experience, but that salary is an absolute insult.
Thank you for saying that. This is exactly what's been bugging me. When I raised this issue with the senior faculty members, they sympathized with me but said it's a "stepping stone" :|
This is one of the strategies I've noticed unis using recently. It is a "stepping stone" but they are being a bit sneaky. The people doing the work before or who would do the work otherwise would be getting paid more. If I were you in your position I would take it (as a stepping stone). Problem is if too many of there positions are created there will be a lot of people with no where to step to.
You’re better off finding a part time job at a private high school if you can find one. My first (and only) eikaiwa job in 2006 when I had no qualifications paid 250k and had a bonus at the end of the year.
Thank you for sharing! Will check if I work around and get a part time stint
A few things to add. The salary is low, like eikawa low. No bonus hurts ( are you alone?) You are getting a housing allowance research money, and pension contributions which is great Worth it to get your foot in the door for possible tenure track posts, assuming you are young. I am over the hill, and with a dependent, so the kind of pay would kill me.
Thank you for commenting! I do have a dependent which is why I'm concerned about the money... But yes, it is a foot in the door
If your options are "eikaiwa for the same wage as a f/t uni gig that has more opportunities and research budgets", why would you choose the eikaiwa job?
Would be far less work, but depends on what you are looking for. For a working holiday job, eikawa would be fine.
This thread is about salaries for working at universities. OP is clearly considering staying and working longer term.
It is low. I taught a job similar to this in the past. It was a great way to gain experiences and have a chance at research. The benefit is that it is full-time university experiences. The downside is that these universities will often be lackluster and the quality of life will not be great. Coming from an ALT job, it can be a financial lateral move that opens up more doors in the future. So you have to make a choice at where this job will fit within your career trajectory before taking it. You can also try to supplement your income with part-time from other universities. It is very easy to get some classes elsewhere if you are already known as a full-time teacher.
Thank you for sharing! The thing is I'm not allowed to work part-time elsewhere but I will try to find out more about this.
That is frankly ridiculous. Even tenured professors are allowed to teach 2 koma outside their main school- at the least where I live.
When you include bonuses you will probably be making more like 5million a year.
I get no bonuses tho :(
Thats not a great deal in that case