Can you become a lecturer without a PhD?
Short answer: yes. Let’s see how you can make your way to the lectern.
Thinking back to your uni days—or if you’re studying right now—you can probably recall those moments that caused you to sit up and pay attention. The moments that made you feel inspired to learn more about your field.
A talented lecturer will clearly lead you through a subject and spark a sense of excitement and wonder about the material. But, as you may have witnessed, this can be tough to pull off.
Working as a lecturer can be a rewarding role—one that allows you to keep feeling inspired and discovering more about your field as you share your knowledge with others.
Fancy a spot behind the lectern yourself? You may be wondering what kind of qualifications you need, and whether you need to go through the tough slog of a PhD to get there.
The short answer is, no, you don’t have to have a PhD to become a lecturer in Australia— though your chances of finding work may depend on your exact field. There are different expectations for disciplines such as science, which can be very academic, compared with something such as marketing, which benefits from experience working in the industry.
It certainly won’t hurt your prospects if you do have a PhD under your belt, whatever your area, and it may mean you are entitled to a higher pay rate as a lecturer.
Let’s take a closer look at how you may be able to land a lecturing gig at a university.
What qualifications do you need to be a lecturer in Australia?
There is no hard and fast rule as to what kind of qualifications you need to be a lecturer in Australia. Some people have PhDs, others don’t but bring other kinds of experience to the job.
Some lecturers are employed as permanent academic staff at the university, others are employed on a casual or short-term basis. You may have heard the term ‘sessional lecturer’ before—this generally refers to staff who lecture but don’t hold research positions at the university.
- Related reading: What is a Master of Education?
As mentioned, qualifications and expectations tend to vary between disciplines. For something like nursing, you may be expected to have specific training as a nurse educator to take on a lecturing role; disciplines such as design or film & TV may preference industry experience so you can share your insider expertise with students.
What's the difference between a lecturer vs a professor?
Okay, this one may take a little explaining—so hold tight.
Essentially, ‘professor’ is a job title that some academic staff hold when employed at a university. It’s a highly senior position that takes a while to work up to. In basically all cases, you will have to have a PhD to be employed as a professor.
In Australian academic ranks, you can also hold the position of ‘associate professor’, which is a step below full professorship.
When someone retires or leaves the university, they will no longer be employed or referred to as a professor, though sometimes retired professors are bestowed the title ‘emeritus professor’ to honour their service.
A ‘lecturer’, on the other hand, is simply anyone who conducts lectures, regardless of their qualifications. They may be promoted to the position of ‘senior lecturer’ after working in the job for a while.
To break it down more clearly, Australian academic ranks generally progress like this:
- Lecturer/Research fellow
- Senior lecturer/Senior research fellow
- Associate professor
- Professor
What does a lecturer do?
As well as, well, lecturing, you may be expected to take on other tasks to run your subject throughout the semester, such as marking assessments, managing tutors, and doing the admin work needed to coordinate the subject.
Sometimes these tasks are delegated to others and you will just focus on writing and delivering the lectures; it will depend on the exact set up of your faculty.
Is it hard to become a lecturer?
As Australia has a large number of universities and education institutions, there is definitely lecturing work out there.
While you don’t necessarily need a PhD, you will need to be across your field, and having some kind of tertiary study or industry experience under your belt will put you in good stead.
- Related reading: Why teaching is a good career choice
To get a lecturing role, some people start out as a tutor in a particular subject and work their way up to lecturing from there, as opportunities come up in their faculty.
If you are currently studying and interested in this kind of work, a good way to see what’s available is to ask your current tutors or lecturers if they know of any opportunities or tell them you may be interested upon graduating.
Can you train to be a lecturer?
To gain the specific skills you’ll need to be a good lecturer, you can complete courses in tertiary training and assessment, to give you a solid grounding in how to teach effectively.
These courses will run you through how to share your knowledge and do the other, perhaps not so glamorous tasks of a lecturer, such as marking the assignments your students will hand in at the end of term.
Even if you have a PhD or expertise in your specific field, it can be a great idea to undertake a tertiary training and assessment course, so you know your students are getting the best possible learning experience.
Want to be the best possible lecturer you can be? Browse the tertiary education courses that are available online with leading Australian universities.
