The International Schools Review Forum

Hello again,

I've got another question, this time regarding others' experiences applying and interviewing for positions in Asia. I'm a single, male school psychologist in the U.S. hoping to land a position as a counselor or psychologist (I know the chances are slim) in Southeast Asia. I am Vietnamese, by birth, but speak no languages other than English (I was adopted a baby).

My question is this:

Will the fact that I'm Asian be an advantage or a disadvantage when interviewing for positions in Asian schools? In Boston, my ethnicity seemed advantageous at times when interviewing for jobs in schools that wanted to appear "diverse," but it seems that international schools in Asia, which already have a lot of Asian people, would attempt to become more diverse by hiring non-Asians. It might not even matter.

I am not sure about that. Most very good international schools ( who really do have an international flair in the student body and staff ) do not hire based on racial or ethnic background. In the last three schools I have worked, there were a couple of Asian teachers and administrators who were hired and stayed for a very long time. One became a departmental head and the other, a vice principal. I suppose it depends on the "image" that a school is aiming for. I heard that China tends to hire foreigners who have the "Western-blonde-haired-blue-eyed" look. But that's just hearsay.

Psychris,

I am also of Asian descent and had similar questions. I currently work at an IB school in China where there are several teachers of Asian origin. That being said, all the Asian teachers who are foreign hires have English as their mother tongue or have "native like" fluency. Perhaps the passport is more important than the ethnicity....

Redselig - I actually just stumbled upon your post from a while ago regarding the same topic and found it helpful and informative. You seem to be faring well over there, which is reassuring.

Android - The "blonde hair, blue eyes" admiration was my main concern, based on things I have heard from people who have lived/visited Asian countries.

We shall see in a few months...

I agree that good international schools in Asian don't care about ethnicity as Android says. It can be be a factor for those teaching in private EFL schools or as a native English teacher in a local school. Having said this, I worked for several years in China in a university program that had lots of foreign English teachers, and a good number were Chinese-American, Chinese-Canadian, and Chinese-Australian.

However, those same colleagues definitely were treated differently by locals than those of us who were obvious foreigners. Often there was an assumption that they understood/spoke the language and customs which could create issues for them if they did not. At the same time people assumed I didn't understand/speak the language and customs. There were definitely times I received special treatment for being a foreigner, which annoyed my "huayiren" colleagues when they were around and didn't get the same treatment. At the same time, they could in the right circumstances "blend in" and not receive the same attention I had constantly. Some days I felt more like a big walking money sign than others and my "huayiren" colleagues tended to get better deals when bargaining even when my Chinese was better.

Good luck.

I am an Asian (Filipino) American and a licensed therapist like you psychris. I am in my first job overseas. I landed a good job (at a school w/ a decent rep no less) - but I encourage you to broaden your scope beyond SE Asia. Competition for work there in the established schools is tough, since everybody wants to work there. My goal is to get there eventually, but lucky to have followed my Search associate's advice to be open-minded about location and got into a great school that is giving me all the room to establish a solid counseling position in a country that was not even on my original radar.

Thanks for the replies.

vettievette - in terms of my scope, I'm actually open to most locations, at this point in my life. I'd consider working/living in Europe (Eastern or otherwise), South America, some parts of Africa, and of course, Asia. While the Middle East isn't exactly at the top of my list, if I could get a good job at a reputable school with a good package, I'd definitely consider it.

Considering their scarity, I think I'd take an international school psych job basically anywhere.