Teaching experience vs. Doctorate

[anon1]

I would favor the teaching experience over the doctorate with no teaching. However, when you say you are "just shy of ABD" does this mean you still have a significant amount of work left on your dissertation? If so, the person with degree in hand will be at an advantage.

Your job will be to convince the search committee that your ABD status will only be for a short period and that you will have everything completed by your hire date. Keep in mind that there are also a large number of candidates out there with a lot of teaching experience and are also done with their dissertations.

[Not I]

Were you asking about tenure-track appointments, I would say if you are not ABD, don't even bother applying, as the finished PhD is worth much more than the 'almost ABD' candidate who has more teaching experience.

However, since you are talking about VAP/VL appointments, I would say it would be a toss up depending on what the SLAC is looking for. They'll likely be asking for a 3/3 or 4/4 teaching load, and will know that you're unlikely to have time to devote to finishing your PhD while there. If they simply want a body to teach a course, whom they'll dump in a couple years, you'd probably have the advantage. If they want someone to test out who they'll eventually hire, the finished PhD would probably have the advantage, especially if they have any grad courses that need to be taught.

But I do agree with anon1 about the 'just shy of ABD' putting you at a disadvantage, especially if your committee can't vouch that you'll be finished quickly. If you haven't defended your prospectus, you're going to get absolutely killed in this market unless your bringing something very, very special and specific (and many years of teaching doesn't really count for much when they aren't post-PhD teaching, especially if you've done it while 'almost ABD' for a decade or more). There are tons of PhDs who would kill for a VAP/VL position, and in this buyer's market (assuming the buyer is the SLAC), an almost-ABD application would probably head straight for the round filing bin rather than the short list.

[aaaaa]

Here's the thing:
the scenario that you describe (pre abd with experience vs phd with little experience) is very, very rarely going to happen.

1st, because there are relatively few people nowadays getting PhDs with absolutely no teaching experience.

2nd, because given the market, it is very, very unlikely that any position will be limited to these sorts of candidates.

Also, "just shy of being ABD" is not a status. You are simply a graduate student at this point. Schools are generally skeptical of people claiming to be "just shy" of something, especially if your many years of teaching college have come as a graduate student in your current program and you are already behind schedule.


I can't imagine any university hiring someone for a full time position who isn't at least a PhD candidate. In fact, other than instructor positions at community colleges, I can't even remember a single ad for VAPs that didn't require the applicant to be at least ABD.

If I were you, my main priority at this point would be to reach candidacy, and then at least get to a point where your committee would be willing to write that you would defend soon.