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Bias against job applicants w/postdocs in China?

In our January “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:

I posted in the job market thread but realised I might be better off asking here. I am on the job market for the first time, and I’m applying for a number of post docs that have been advertised with people who directly work in my area based in China. I am wondering whether anyone knows if there is a bias against applicants who have done post-docs in China/difficulty going into a different market afterwards. I have seen conflicting opinions online about this. The market where I live now is very bad, so it would be good to go somewhere else for a while whilst things shake out and I think these post-docs would be beneficial for publishing, but I’m not sure if there’s a bias against these jobs that might effect my chances of getting a permanent position in e.g. Europe somewhere down the line.

I’ve never heard of this being a concern. What do readers think?

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2 responses to “Bias against job applicants w/postdocs in China?”

  1. Anonymous

    I do think that some state colleges in the USA would be reluctant to pay to bring someone from China for an interview. It costs too much – even hiring budgets are not unlimited. In this sense, it matters – if you want a permanent job in the US.
    Indeed, the best way to answer such questions is to look at the webpages of the places you want to work (or types of places). Ask yourself: is there a single faculty member who had a post doc in China on staff? If the answer is no, you do the math … I doubt there is a single scholar in an Ivy League Philosophy Department who had a post doc in China.

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  2. Anonymous

    No bias from where I’m sitting (which is not the USA). My department has certainly interviewed people on post-docs in China.

    My impression is that post-doc in China = research factory. If you want to do research, go, publish things in good venues, and research jobs will judge you based on the quality of your work.

    If you want a teaching-focused job, the lack of teaching experience could harm you. Not because it’s in China, but because people with 2-3 years of full-time teaching simply have more experience.

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