Are Malaysian universities overlooking teaching talent for PhDs?

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Malaysian universities can overlook teaching talent when hiring is tightly tied to PhDs and academic publications
In many Malaysian universities, hiring for lecturer roles is often treated as a near-necessity to meet PhD and publication benchmarks, including whether a candidate’s PhD is in the field being taught and whether their H-index is above a set threshold. The PhD requirement has been described as a newer Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) rule that came about two to three years ago, and the publication focus has been adopted by many private institutions using H-index screening. The result is that lecturers and teachers with Masters degrees, or with strong teaching records but limited academic publishing, may be rejected from interviews even for Bachelor-level courses.
PhD field-matching can block experienced teachers from interviews
The hiring practice highlighted is not only about holding a PhD, but also about whether the PhD is related to the department and subject area. With the MQA PhD requirement framed as arriving about two to three years ago, the argument says prior teaching experience (for example, eight years teaching Business or Journalism) may not help if the PhD is not aligned with the department applying to teach. In that scenario, the candidate may struggle to even reach an interview.
H-index screening is being used, particularly by private universities
For publication performance, the screening tool mentioned is the H-index, described as a measure tied to having published in top-tier journals. The text says many private institutions have adopted H-index requirements in recent years because higher staff indices can raise international rankings such as QS and Times, which then feed into higher student numbers, including overseas enrolment. This creates a strong link between hiring criteria and ranking metrics.
Teaching skill is not always captured by publication records
A key concern raised is the disconnect between what students and departments typically need during a semester and what the hiring filters measure. The argument points to lecturers who can communicate a syllabus effectively, inspire students, help them, organise events, and remain engaged with the department, even if they have only a Masters degree or do not publish heavily in academic journals. It also questions why someone who is not well-published in university journals is excluded, rather than being hired and channelled toward teaching.
Some practitioner disciplines may not fit the “top-journal” publication model
The discussion also notes that in fields such as journalism, video production, teaching, and graphic design, top practitioners may not have the time or interest to submit long manuscripts in journal formats. In these practitioner-oriented disciplines, strong professional work may not translate into the kind of top-tier academic publishing reflected by an H-index. The text further asks how often lecturers with both the “correct” PhD and strong publication records are also good at classroom engagement and student patience, suggesting the overlap is not guaranteed.

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Are Malaysian universities overlooking teaching talent for PhDs?

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