Teaching Experience Preferred? - Preparing Graduate Students for Teaching Opportunities Beyond North America

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa

Graduate student applicants for academic positions increasingly face demands to submit teaching statements, teaching philosophies, or teaching dossiers, and to discuss and demonstrate teaching during interviews. This work investigates whether entry-level tenure-track roles outside North America require comparable teaching documentation and evidence. Job advertisements from six sites across a four-month period are coded by region for expectations, requested teaching experience, and required teaching-related materials. Results indicate strong comparability to North America and highlight the value of targeted graduate teaching development for international job searches.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Approach

Results

23 “Teaching Experience Preferred?” Preparing Graduate Students for Teaching Opportunities Beyond North America Suzanne Le-May Sheffield Dalhousie University Over the last 15 years, graduate students applying for academic positions in post-secondary education have increasingly been asked to include a statement of teaching interests, a teaching philosophy, or a teaching dossier with their applications. Even if a potential employer does not request any of these documents, many interviewees are expected to be able to reflect and articulate intelligently about their teaching philosophy in a job interview and/or to demonstrate their teaching. In Canada and the United States, research has shown that hiring committees are looking for candidates that not only have teaching experience, but who can also talk about and demonstrate their teaching (Meizlish & Kaplan, 2008; Schonwetter, Taylor, & Ellis, 2006). However, what types of teaching documentation are required of applicants when they are applyingfor entry-level academic positions outside of North America? Especially as developing countries are increasingly seeking Canadian faculty for their experience in student-centered pedagogical approaches (Tamburri, 2011). In addition, North American graduates are searching global markets for further career opportunities. An investigation was launched to examine permanent, tenuretrack academic positions on six job sites during a four-month period to compare requests for teachingrelated materials and teaching experience in job ads beyond North America. This study found that the international job market is comparable to the North American one with respect to teaching expectations and documentation. These findings underscore the importance of graduate student teaching development for those graduates seeking academic employment outside of North America. Introduction I n a 2011 article Rosanna Tamburri published in University Affairs, argued that,“Canadian professors are highly sought-after for their expertise in curriculum development. They are helping to transform postsecondary education in developing countries...”(p. 24) . In their 2003 study of 30 British academics, Richardson and McKenna highlight the value of international experience both to the individual’s career advancement and to the institutions that hire them, abroad and at home. Overseas faculty positions are advertised in key English language job sites. This globalization of the academic job market raises a new question for North American educational developers who support the teaching development of graduate students: How can we best advise graduate students to prepare their applications for positions beyond North America with respect to their teaching? Over the last 15 years, increasing emphasis has been placed on the teaching development of graduate students in educational development work as expectations for junior faculty’s teaching experience and abilities has increased. Research in the Canadian and American context has demonstrated that hiring committees are looking for candidates who have teaching experience and who can talk about and demonstrate their teaching abilities and approaches during a job interview (Meizlish & Kaplan, 2008; Schonwetter, Taylor & Ellis, 2006) . This research, in the context of the globalization of academe, raises the question of whether positions outside of North America hold the same teaching expectations for new hires. This pilot study has found that the international academic job market does indeed appear to parallel the North American one in its expectations for teaching experience and documentation for entry-level positions. These findings underscore the importance of educational developers’ work with graduate students to support and encourage their professional development of teaching to provide preparation for their job search for international positions as well as within Canada and the US. Approach Two hundred nine

FAQs

Why do graduate students increasingly need teaching-related documents for academic applications?

Over the last 15 years, applicants have been asked to include teaching interests, a teaching philosophy, or a teaching dossier, and interviewers often expect candidates to articulate and demonstrate their teaching.

What question does the study address about teaching expectations outside North America?

It examines what types of teaching documentation are required when applying for entry-level academic positions beyond North America and whether expectations parallel those in Canada and the United States.

How was the data collected for the study?

The researchers scanned 295 job ads for permanent, entry-level tenure-track positions from six job sites over four months, recording institution details, responsibilities, qualifications, requested documents, language requirements, and required teaching experience or teaching documentation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa