Masters or no masters

4 comments

1. It depends on the industry you’re going into, but in Japan experience is almost always worth more than a graduate degree. There are certain exceptions for academia and science fields, but most other fields the master’s won’t be worth the time/money.

2. For what its worth i went to graduate school in Japan after JET and made quite significantly more on the job i secured after (international company). An education degree could limit you to university jobs perhaps but it could be worth a shot.

3. If you to teach university than an MA of course is needed but the pay as a non tenure track adjunct will be the same or worse than a good international school if you’re teaching humanities. If you’re getting a stem degree I imagine the pay will be a bit better. If you want to stick to teaching k-12 I’d suggest getting a teachers license in Japan or your home country and IB certifications instead of an MA as the IB schools I’ve seen here pay well.

4. The advice I got back in the day was “once you get your Masters, people don’t look at your qualifications anymore” and “you’ll never have trouble getting a job again”; I taught in Japan in the 1990’s at an elite university, left for Australia and found the same held true here; your Masters is a real ticket; still making a healthy income at 67 years of age… Do it you will never regret it!