Yeah don’t do a PhD

But how to get hired then?

This should be obvious but never sign up for a degree in a field where only PhDs can get jobs.

what to do instead?

Tried that, the university considered lecturers to be disposable if there was a chance to replace them with a tenure-track who could get grants, and told me I could come back if I got a PhD.

Agreed. I found I loved teaching, but with only a Masters I was limited to adjunct hell. I took the pay cut and made the push for my doctorate.

If you want to have a tenure track "professor" position focused on teaching in a top-tier university, you need to be a great researcher as teaching skills are not considered much -- you just get to decide to focus on teaching after you get tenure. Thankfully, many universities (even the prestigious ones) are now starting to hire more semi-permanent teaching-focused staff (and some even use the title professor for these). You do not get as much independence in such a position, especially if you want to make a class for more senior students, but it is a good middle ground. Or you can be a professor at a school that is not in the rat-race to be "top-tier research institution" - you still need to have some small research output (but that is actually an awesome way to introduce a couple of undergrads a year to research) and you get to focus on making awesome classes (of course, there is still the expectation that you have a PhD to apply for these positions, but at these places your teaching experience is actually taken seriously in the hiring process).

As to what to do during your PhD: find an advisor that is happy to have one or two students focused on teaching and outreach (they would like to have that because when applying for grants it makes it easier for them to explain how they have broader impact, pointing to your work).

> If you want to have a tenure track "professor" position focused on teaching in a top-tier university, you need to be a great researcher as teaching skills are not considered much

Not completely true. UC Berkeley at least has tenure-track lecturers, now apparently mostly referred to as "Teaching Professors" (https://apo.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/teaching_profes...)

A random (old) job post for this: https://gsso.ce.gatech.edu/2022/01/12/tenure-track-teaching-...

Yes, I mentioned this type of examples in the second half of my post. Thankfully these are becoming more common.

Except that UC Berkeley most definitely is “in the rat-race to be "top-tier research institution" (probably more accurately described as one of the rat-race winners in many fields) - it’s definitely important that top-tier research institutions also provide quality teaching.

We do agree on this. My second sentence is exactly what you just said:

> Thankfully, many universities (even the prestigious ones) are now starting to hire more semi-permanent teaching-focused staff (and some even use the title professor for these).

In academia, your Resume/CV is basically a list of what you have published.

Even if you are an awesome teacher, you are going to be required to continue publishing a minimum amount every few years and you will be hired based on what you published.

Sorry, but that's just academia. If you want to teach without doing research, then maybe look at Community Colleges, High Schools, or getting a job at a corporate job and being an Adjunct Professor for 1-2 classes a semester.

There are also smaller (typically private) colleges and universities that heavily focus on their undergrad programs. The Jesuits seem to lean into this style with both Santa Clara U. in the Bay Area and Loyola Marymount U. in LA falling into this pile. Research at these institutions definitely ends up taking a secondary role.

Source: Teaching Professor at NC State

During the PhD, I was a TA and instructor on record for several classes. Schools may have some form of mentor teaching assistantship that lets you get experience teaching while in the program. I think I taught ~6 courses by the time I graduated.

It helps to position yourself its to the "education" research space for your field. There is a strong CS education research space, so you can incorporate your classroom as your "lab", though you'll want to study up on Cognitive Sciences to ensure your findings support current literature. My publication count is much lower than my peers, but I was still able to receive several offers for teaching faculty positions.

Teaching faculty positions are available, though not in as much demand as traditional research oriented profs. However, I know at least in CS there are several universities looking for them. Likewise, by situating yourself in the education space, you can land research prof while still focusing on education. If you get funding, then you can buy out course obligations so you can specialize in teaching a single class.

A teaching university and not a research university. You can / will still do some research but your job is teaching students not doing research. The pay is generally better, but of course, you will have to actually teach a lot and have a lot of office hours. Maybe once every few years you can work out a research semester. The initial pay is better but less so the opportunities for advancement as you won't be publishing much. That makes it harder to differentiate on anything other than time.

I'm not sure the salaries are better. Most R1s are now offering 90-120k starting in my field, but regional teaching Us start around 50-60k, with liberal arts colleges in the 50-80k range.

The point about the lack of opportunities for advancement/moving due to the course preps and teaching taking up your time is very true. While your friends at R1s are on pre-tenure sabbaticals, getting course buyouts, and teaching a nice grad seminar for a semester, you might be doing 3-4 new preps a year and likely getting piled with service work.