Middle East Degree Mismatch?

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venny414
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2023 4:22 am

Middle East Degree Mismatch?

Post by venny414 »

Hi all. Have wanted to move internationally for years and would love to work in The Middle East. When I started looking a few years ago, it became apparent that in most countries there (Qatar, UAE etc) there was an issue called 'degree mismatch' whereby if the wording of your undergraduate degree didn't match the subject you were qualified/hired to teach, then that would cause problems.

For example, if your degree was in Chemical Engineering but were recruited as a Science Teacher, there would be issues gaining a visa.
I suppose my question for those in the know is two fold. Firstly, is this actually a thing or was it made up and if it is a thing, is it still a big issue?

I don't want to waste my time applying for jobs when I wouldn't be able to get a visa.

Thanks in advance all!
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

Well yes, and no, and maybe kinda sorta.

So 'yes', but the background is more that the ME has had issues in the past of having ETs who were nothing more than ESOL instructors making inroads into DE and IE, because on the ET side IE and DE pay better coin who can then use that DT/IT experience to then go somewhere else in IE. On the IS side the ME is a difficult region to recruit for and getting ITs is hard enough but getting them in high needs areas is that many more times harder, so lower tier ISs would hire these ETs who have maybe a degree or related degree in a subject or just not be brain dead to fill positions. So thats where the yes comes from.

The 'no' comes in play where if your degree is in chemical engineering science isnt going to be an issue for you especially if your appointed as a chemistry IT. There would be problems if you were say appointed to teach maths but your degree is in economics or your appointed to teach Literature when your degree is in theater.

The 'maybe' is that there are like most things in IE and the ME in that there are ways around it, such that an IS thats not on anyones radar is going to appoint an IT with a degree in chemical engineering as a chemistry IT and present that with the visa application, and then maybe appoint them to teach other science courses once on-site. Its not a problem to do this because no one is looking at the IS. The maybe is that there are ISs who have abused this before and get far more scrutiny.
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