Is a phd necessary to teach abroad?

[Nellau]

I don’t belong here but would appreciate some input please

DD is married to a barrister, alongside his job he also teaches law at a university. He’s done this for years now but wants to take time out to do a phd in order to teach at a university abroad where his brother lives.

DD supported him through his legal training and would be picking up the slack if he went back to studying. He says it’s necessary but as he’s already teaching here, it just seems frivolous to me?

Is it a necessity?

[SarahAndQuack]

How can we know? Abroad where?

I think law is a peculiar subject in that there certainly are places where you can teach university law having been a practising lawyer rather than because you've got a PhD. I'm fairly sure this is also the case in parts of the US, too (though I think the US is complicated for other reasons).

But what strikes me is that you don't seem to trust him to be honest here?

[Nellau]

Sorry @SarahAndQuack I didn’t mean to be vague, it’s Australia.

It’s not that I don’t trust him, it’s just that it always seems to be one thing after another and now it’s not working then moving to the other side of the world. I’m being unreasonable I know and it’s none of my business, I was just hoping to go back with some alternatives.

[baumwolle]

If he's teaching alongside practice, universities in the UK probably see his value as providing insight into how the law is actually applied. If he wants to teach abroad, he won't be able to offer that insight from the local jurisdiction and I can see why a PhD would make his path much easier. The only jobs I tend to see in my area of interest's postings for legal academia 'abroad' (mainland Europe) which don't require a PhD are junior researcher positions without teaching responsibilities.

[SarahAndQuack]

No, you're not unreasonable - I would also be wondering quietly if someone like this is always going to find a reason to be studying rather than working. I just wondered if there was another reason you don't trust him. I suppose that's more of a Relationships Board question.

[Nellau]

Thank you both. Yes @SarahAndQuack that’s how it feels, like there’ll be no end to the courses. It makes any future planning difficult but DD is in full support so I’ll keep my concerns to myself and just hope this is the last one.

[QueenoftheAir]

He could look at 'taught' coursework Doctorates such as (I think it's called) the SJD. You could also do a bit of research yourself, and have a look at the Law Faculties of universities in the Australian city they're thinking of moving to. See who is teaching there, and what their qualifications are. I left Australian academia about 25 years ago, and I don't think it's improved much since then in terms of funding etc.

The prestigious Law Schools (UofSydney, UofMelbourne, possibly UWA and ANU) are likely to want to bring in hot-shot practitioners in various areas. But the Australian system has significant differences from the UK system - both in law & academia.

[MedSchoolRat]

I dunno about Aus.

My European PhD student was worried about her career prospects, adamant that in Europe you need a degree specifically in what you want to teach to be able to get a job teaching it at Uni level.

Ie, everyone teaching on a history course must have degrees in history, or everyone teaching in a medical school (even if their research is mostly sociology or politics of medicine) must have a degree in medicine.

No idea if this is true about Europe. It's not true about UK Unis.

[Pota2]

If he wants to be a proper academic rather than just doing hourly paid teaching, he will need a PhD, yes. However, it doesn’t seem great that your DD will pick up the slack while he does it.

[TrailingLobelias]

Ridiculous plan.
He is not guaranteed a lecturing job in Australia even with a PhD. It's very competitive.
And he wants to go- does your daughter? I'm an immigrant trailing partner and it makes every aspect of life more difficult and lonely and leas fun and is a huge sacrifice.
Doing a PhD itself is fine if they're young and don't have children. You get a stipend and he can probably work part time as well. It gives you a pay boost long term.

[sonjadog]

As others said, it is difficult to say without specific details, but on the whole I would say that yes, he would need a phd to get a good position.