What is causing the stagnation of English teaching salaries?

Charlie_Jack · July 7, 2017, 5:32am

I guess Cantaloupeman123 may be talking about this kind of thing:

Hi mainstflushing, and welcome to the board.

I can’t speak from experience, because I’m white, and because I haven’t been in the job market in a long time.

On this board, opinions and experiences seem to vary about issues of pay and hiring discrimination against ABCs:

From April of 2014, from a thread entitled “Taiwanese nationals teaching English” (the original poster had dual Taiwanese and South African citizenship):

[quote]You will still get a job but your pay, hours and extra responsibilities will be that of a local Taiwanese teacher. that means lower pay/hr, fewer paid hours and more grading.
Typically that is.[/quote]

Taiwanese nationals teaching English - #2 by Abacus

From the same thread as the 2014 quote above, and partially in response to that post:

[quote]. . . that is not always the case, nor should the O[riginal]P[oster] accept it as such.
It’s perfectly possible to get a job, but your choices will not be as varied as a non-Asian foreigner.[/quote]

Taiwanese nationals teaching English - #4 by Amasashi

From the same thread as the two 2014 quotes above:

My wife (Taiwanese) has never had a problem getting a teaching job with the same pay and work conditions as foreign teachers. I don’t think it’s ever taken her longer than a week or two to find one.

Taiwanese nationals teaching English - #9 by cfimages

From August of 2011, from the first post in a thread entitled “Hot Diggity Dog: ABC Files Discrimination Charge Against Kindy”:

From Google Translation with some editing (actually, massive):

American-born Chinese Mr. Zhang, according to the (New Taipei City council committee’s) employment discrimination complaint, said he applied for a new foreign language teaching position in one of New Taipei’s private kindergartens. However, the kindergarten (rep) told him that parents like White foreign teachers and will not welcome Yellow foreign teachers. He was (thus) refused (by the kindy for) an interview. He believes he was “racial(ly discriminated)”.

New Taipei City council committee, (after investigating the employment discrimination complaint, determined that the practice is questionable and fined the kindergarten 300,000 NT as of yesterday. This is the first case of employment discrimination in New Taipei City because of “race” factor in employment).

Hot Diggity Dog: ABC Files Discrimination Charge Against Kindy

From March of 2010:

It should also be noted that there is indeed a bias on the part of some parents and indeed adult teachers that having a white face teach English is the best deal, regardless of teaching ability. Some folks feel they’re not getting their money’s worth if they learn from an ABC or CBC, even if the quality of teaching is better. . . .

CBC vs The 'White' Face and the right for equal pay - #10 by TheGingerMan

From October of 2009:

today in particular, i called 4 schools inquiring about their open job listings. I had an interview/demo scheduled for all of them, only to conclude the conversations with something along the lines of, “by the way, I’m ABC does that matter?” and having them politely saying they won’t hire me. so i guess it turns out that it does matter. i even had one tell me that they only hire “foreigners”, like i wasn’t a foreigner. i can’t even read a menu if it is written in chinese.

To all the native speaking asians out there

From March of 2008:

I came to Taiwan without securing a job and just searched the internet and canvased around. I only got call backs from the ads I applied via the internet. I also got a lot of “we only hire foriegners”.

This being said I got a job within a week with a franchised chain school at competitive pay. Personally, I think being an ABC is a challenge, but you’ll get work, just hang in there.

How selective are major chain schools for ABCs? - #4 by OKao

From July of 2007:

My wife was born in Taiwan but raised in the US (since 3 years of age). Her primary language is English. She got a job teaching English when we were in Taiwan but was fired because too many parents complained that a “Chinese person” was teaching their children English. Nevermind that my wife speaks English with a North American accent, speaks only basic Mandarin, knows very little about Chinese culture, and considers herself American. The ignorant parents wanted a white face, and she didn’t fit the mold.

Is Taichung abc/cbc friendly city for teaching? - #9 by Gao_Bohan

From the same thread as the one above, posted in August of 2007:

Hey, I’m CBC and I was able to find work within a week of looking. I did expereince a few schools who wouldn’t even accept my resume. But who wants to work for a racist school anyways? If you give a good demo, and have a four year degree, good schools will not care. In general, being CBC is not a bonus, but there’s enough opportunity so you’ll find a good job. Just hang in there, and don’t settle.

Is Taichung abc/cbc friendly city for teaching? - #11 by OKao