In the Indian academic system, does one's teaching experience such as being a teaching assistant count towards one's application for an Assistant Professorship? My TAship involved everything from preparing class lectures, conducting long lectures, to maintaining grade lists. I have six years of experience of taking undergraduate classes as a TA. My question is whether I can put this as my teaching experience on application. Any leads on how to navigate this would be extremely helpful.
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As far as I know and am aware of current considerations around hiring assistant professors (entry-level), the minimum criteria are these:
- Must have a PhD or DPhil in a relevant discipline
- Upper age limit (maybe 35 or 40; I am not sure!)
- Teaching experience, if any (they are not too strict on this)
I believe I am fairly correct on this. Now, if you have pre-PhD experience, that will not be considered in most organisations. However, you can pose it as an additional and value-adding experience: preparing courses, handling students, examinations, etc. However, a TA-ship is not the same as a lectureship, which has much more than what a TA does. In this sense, TA experience might not be valued too much.
Additional note: You could also email the hiring committee before applying and possibly ask them for guidance on whether you should mention it as a relevant teaching experience or something else. Note also that it is always a good practice to clearly state in your resume/CV whether the experience was pre-, during- or Post-PhD. This also, however, varies between organisations.
Good luck!
