Issues working at university (general question about work culture)

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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Hello all,

I have a lot weighing on my mind about what to do in my current work situation, and I am hoping some of you might have some insight.

I’ve been teaching at a university for about a year. I had thought this was a teaching professor position, but when I arrived I was presented with very different expectations - that I would open a lab, that I would “consult” for other research groups, that I would be an editor for papers written by other faculty members. My main issue was with the expectation of opening a lab and taking in graduate students. Opening a lab is not trivial, and a nontrivial “addition” to a job description, so I was pretty shocked, but still enthusiastic and trying to figure out how to best accommodate these new expectations. Adding to my confusion was that different higher ups at the university were telling me different things - some that I should focus on opening the lab, others that I should focus on consulting for a different research group, etc. Some said that I should just not bother and focus only on teaching as planned.

It has been very difficult to have a straight discussion with any of my colleagues, or even the people who initiated these expectations. It seems that asking a question is seen as starting an argument, and then discussion is shut down. Or the person will dismissively say, “well you don’t have to do it” but I get the sense that they are not happy about it and the expectation is still there.

This confusion and the lack of people to talk to about it has really been weighing me down. I have been focusing on teaching and have gotten good feedback from students. I’ve tried to reach some compromise by mentoring some students as they work on research projects and helping to edit a few papers. But there is still this sense of confusion and the sense that I am not meeting expectations. I think it’s weighing on me because I came in really enthusiastic about the job opportunity, and wanting to contribute the best I could, and I just feel like I’ve dissappointed people from day 1.

Am I just stuck in a rut of thinking about this? I really love many aspects of living in Taiwan and for the most part I’ve really enjoyed and am passionate about the teaching aspect of the job, which is the job I signed up to do. Is there something about work culture or university culture here that I am just not getting? (I am educated in the US and UK. I have distant Taiwanese heritage so some aspects of Taiwanese culture are familiar, but I still sense that there is something about the communication style, or the work culture, that I am not getting.)

I’m thinking of leaving this job soon, but I’m still really conflicted and confused about my experience here. I feel ostracized and isolated from my colleagues (the discrimination I experience in everyday interaction is perhaps a topic for another time). I don’t know if it’s my fault or if I could have handled things better so that my colleagues would like me more, or whatever. It’s wearing on me and I increasingly feel like isolating myself, which I know is probably not productive.

Would appreciate any insight on this blather… or advice about how to make the best of (survive) at least this next semester. Thanks for reading.

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My uni teaching experience has boiled down to:

  1. Don’t create any additional work for anyone else or, much more importantly, upset anyone else.
  2. Get your work done without any complaints.

As for meeting unexpected expectations (such as opening a lab), I don’t have experience of that.

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Your experience is not unique nor unexpected. You’re suffering from the effects of major cultural differences in communication. Taiwan (like China and Japan, and many other countries in Asia) are so-called High Context communicators, and you’re expected to get most of your information by the context: read everything between the lines. You’re expected to pretty much already know what to do before any discussion, and will never get a clear list (as in, a comprehensive job description).

English speaking cultures are, in contrast, Low Context communicators. You get everything explicitly laid out for you, with no room or need for personal interpretations.

you need to patiently accumulate the right expectations by experiencing their reaction, etc.

BTW, where do you get the money to set up a lab? If you have a grant, use it. and then get students, after the lab is set (so they can do some work for you). … and resist the ‘offers’ to edit everyone’s manuscript, they’re abusing your trust there. make friends, and then edit their papers only (if you have time). Surprisingly, you may make more friends that way.

get yourself a copy of the useful book The Culture Map for dealing across disparate cultures.

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Great book recommendation, thanks.

To some extent, I’m used to high-context communication from my upbringing and can do pretty well with it in certain situations (more personal interactions, I suppose, or with my Taiwanese relatives here… not in the job context, apparently). It’s funny, now that you bring this up I realize a key part of my training in grad school and in working for companies in the US/UK was learning how to be an effective low-context communicator - to be explicit and clear and to demand the same from colleagues. I think that contributes to my struggle here - I thought I was being recruited precisely for these skills and experiences, and not to fit in to the status quo. For example, in teaching I encourage my students to voice disagreements if they have any, to openly discuss problems, to not perpetuate an overbearing hierarchy. I thought that as a teacher I could behave likewise - practice what you preach, right?! - but it hasn’t gone so well.

I do have grant money. Again, there was miscommunication about whether I could go ahead and use it, or whether I should prioritize other tasks. I wish I had gotten your advice earlier. At this point I am leaning towards cutting my losses and leaving.

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if you decide to leave without spending the grant, check your grant conditions carefully… from a high context POV!

don’t burn your bridges, either.

and good luck!

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Thanks :slight_smile:

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My case is a bit different in that I work as a PhD student for a Taiwanese professor, but I have a similar experience in terms of being asked to move five mountains at the same time. My professor would set me on task #1, then the next day ask me about beginning to research #2, and later on come up with hypothesis #3 that I need to check–“and keep working on what we discussed before.”

The way I work around that is by deciding what task is most important for my mission (i.e. doing research I can consistently report on in my thesis), work on that task, and anytime my prof comes up with an additional but irrelevant task, I reply “sure, I’ll do this once I’m done with #1 you asked me to deal with.”

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Thanks for sharing your experience - sounds frustrating, but also sounds like you are handling it wisely :slight_smile: Good luck with the rest of your PhD!

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Nor your fault, your situation is run of the mill, best to leave Taiwan and take your enthusiasm elsewhere as you are dedicated to your job. Forget about locals being able to discuss or have insight into your situation, they think you just having a job here is ‘lucky’.
They want you to help with their papers cos they are paper publishing factories and they are lazy , they want you to open a lab up probably for the same reason and cos they can get more students.
Unclear communication, hidden agendas and general face saving culture…Nope you aren’t fitting in anytime soon. Your attitude and passion will not get you anywhere here in general :grin::sunglasses:
Or the bigger question is…Do you WANT to fit in? You are a bad match for this environment.

What do you think of the students ?

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Also work at a uni. Unexpected surprises are constant. Like being placed on an extra research committee without my consent, or having 62 students stuffed into one class, or dealing with competing egos in the department who enlist other instructors as proxies in their pissing contest, long preparation time and grading for classes and a hundred other frustrations … That said, I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else in Taiwan due to long vacations, (relatively) mature and relaxed classroom environment, no desk warming, autonomy to create my own syllabus and teach what I want within a loose framework, the feeling of being involved in academia, etc.

So if you want to stay in Taiwan I’d encourage you to reconsider as its top of the ESL shit-heap here and it’s hard to find a new uni job once you quit an old one. But if you think better opportunities await you back home, then perhaps it’s best to move on.

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I don’t get it. What exactly is your job? Never heard of someone who runs their own lab helping others with just editing other people’s manuscripts.
If you are a professor you don’t really answer to anyone just do your own thing. There might be a performance review but its still up to you to do what you want.
Otherwise, similar to what Baxter said, just focus on whatever you want. They throw shit at you but no one actually believes you can do all that at the same time. Do your own prioritization. This part isn’t limited to Taiwan either. In my experience its like that in academia everywhere until you nurture some level of trust.

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Figure out who in your department is actually calling the shots (it could surprise you) and make friends with them using snacks. Don’t discuss your problems until they are your friend. Then tell them that you are worried that your additional duties are impacting your teaching.

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That’s it right there. I do have the human nature desire to fit in to the group, to not be rejected … but it may just be a bad fit.

For the most part, I’ve found the students to be respectful, bright, and kind, pleasant human beings to be around. I think they’re a bit coddled by the university and perhaps not encouraged to challenge themselves to reach their full potential, in general, but there are some who are truly outstanding.

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I don’t run my own lab. I was asked to do so upon arrival. That was the point of the whole post.

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Ah yes, snacks, the universal language!

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I am finding academic job here in Taiwan too. Are you teaching in a private university?

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Yes, I am.

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What is your position? Assistant professor 助理教授? Will you get tenure (employment contract until age 65) when you get promoted to Associate professor 副教授? Or will you still be subject to 3/5 year reviews?

I would first ask the secretary in your department what the formal criteria are for getting promoted, then what others have done (in terms of publications, grant money) before applying for promotion, and then what their time lines were. The point of this would be to figure out which of all these things will truly matter for you to get tenure. Then you can do that and say no to the other things.

If you are already tenured, well then can’t you just ignore these various requests?

My impression is that once they hire you in Taiwanese academia, they will try to keep you. That is, getting the promotion should be the normal course of events if you do the necessary things. But my experience is limited.

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Just a quick clarification. There is no formal “tenure” system for faculty members here in Taiwan. Currently those who are at the associate professor level or higher typically have some job security (you might call this de facto tenure), but even faculty members at those ranks are (at least at my institution and other places I know about) subject to scheduled reviews. AND for those working at universities near the bottom of the ranking pile, it is also a possibility that one’s department or even the whole university could be shuttered. More on this here:

The key in all this is do good work, meaningful work. If you’re good at your job, there will be opportunities somewhere globally.

Guy

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At Academia Sinica, assistant professors get tenure (in the sense of a job not contingent upon periodic reviews until age 65) when promoted to associate. People hired 10 or so years ago only got tenure when promoted to full professor. Still subject to reviews at associate level. Still, sounds like tenure to me? Of course with mandatory retirement at 65, which is not the case in the US, but is in many European countries