On this page, i’ll tell you the ins and outs of becoming an academic lecturer in South Africa.
First of all, lets clear these questions before we go far:
Are there any high school subjects required to become a lecturer?
No, you don’t need any specific high school subject choice combination, you just need to qualify to enter a university.
How long does it take to become a lecturer in South Africa?
It can easily take you 8 years minimum to become a lecturer in South Africa.
Is it hard to become a lecturer in South Africa?
It is not hard if you enjoy academic work such as research and tutoring other learners
Are there jobs for lecturers in South Africa?
Yes, there are jobs for lecturers in South Africa, especially if you are a black female, with a PhD, who has been tutoring other learners – your job is almost guaranteed.
Now that we have cleared some of the common questions we get from students who want to become lecturers, let’s get to the details.
What to Study to Become a Lecturer in South Africa?
Here is the shocking part about becoming a lecturer, you don’t need any specific qualification to become a lecturer in South Africa. What you will need is a PhD qualification in any field. Some universities in South Africa may even hire you as a lecturer with just a master’s degree, on part-time or contract basis. Chances of getting a lecturing jobs are higher if you are a PhD candidate.
University lecturing job goes according to “who ever is the highest qualified, we will listen to them“. If you want to lecture a logistics course offered at a university, you will need to have a PhD in logistics – simple right? Well, not that simple. Getting a PhD is not like going to creche, it’s hard! Harder than writing a school assignment without using AI at all!
Here is a step by step on what to study to become a lecturer:
- Step 1: Enrol for any undergraduate degree of your preference
- Step 2: Enrol for a postgraduate honours degree in the same field
- Step 3: Hunt for any tutoring or research jobs at your campus from this point onwards, so that you gain experience in dealing with students,
- Step 4: Apply for a master’s degree in the same field – at this point, it would be easy to find tutoring jobs in your campus because you are a senior student,
- Step 5: Apply for a PhD degree in the same or related field at a current university or any. Most of the lecturing positions are secured while you are doing a PhD.
The Realities of a Lecturing Profession in South Africa
After spending half of my life in the University of Johannesburg, as an undergraduate student, who eventually became an honours, then a master’s graduate, and later, an HR Officer, then a Website Developer in the same institution, i have seen it all regarding lecturing.
I would say half of the lectures in any university are lecturing because they were unable to find jobs that suite them in the corporate world. Therefore, they resorted into pursuing their studies at all cost – while still looking for a job in the corporate world. Most of the corporate job hunt stops when these students are promised lecturing or academic jobs in the departments they are studying in.
What makes lecturing most appealing is that, sometimes corporate pays “peanuts” – you know what i mean! These little salaries that corporate offers are often outweighed by the advantages and perks of being a lecturer at a university.
Example, a BSc Information Science graduate with a master’s degree cannot stand the fact that he will be earning the same R16 000 per month salary – same as a certificate holder System Administrator. However, i would have to say “beggars cannot be choosers” on this one, and remember, “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”
The reality of the South African job market after graduating from a university is that, you enter into a tough world (31.9% unemployed job seekers) of “red eyes” old school job hunt – where your success of landing a job will solely depend on:
- who you know,
- the colour of your skin,
- your gender, and
- years of experience.
Thus, if the odds are not on your side, you “keep on doing what you do best” – studying, until you hold a PhD on your hand. At this stage, you are now over qualified for most of the corporate jobs anyways, you are now viewed and respected as an academic. Therefore, becoming a Lecturer almost becomes an automatic process. That’s where most would say “lecturing chose me”