Between 1980 and 2015, a combined total of 11,619 associate professors and professors across Viet Nam have been recognized and certified by the State Council for Professorship, most of whom are now in their 60s or 70s, and even above 80 years of age.

To boost Viet Nam’s international integration in education, and improve the quality of professors and associate professors, the Vietnamese Prime Minister issued Decision No. 37 dated August 31, 2018 stipulating standards, procedures and guidelines for the recognition of professor and associate professor titles.

Since 2019, 1,609 new associate professors and professors who have been recognized in line with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 37 have been appointed to universities nationwide. In reality, the number of new associate professors and professors has reached 2,215 during the said period due to a rise in the number of those persons who were recognized and certified by the disciplinary and interdisciplinary Professor Councils in 2023. However, in recent years, all universities across the country have been "thirsty" for associate professors and professors.

The University of Da Nang has made great efforts to offer doctoral training in an attempt to increase the number of associate professors and professors with a focus on providing postgraduate training and facilitating PhD students to get their research projects published in prestigious science journals.

Data published by the Ministry of Education and Training showed that there were 242 universities, except military and police training centers, in Viet Nam in the 2021-2022 accademic year, while 602 people were appointed as full-time professors and 4,601 others appointed as full-time associate professors at these universities. Among these universities are 175 public schools where 462 professors and 3,772 associate professors are teaching, all of whom are those persons of working age. Meanwhile, the remaining 140 professors and 829 associate professors serve as teachers at private universities, most of whom have already retired and are former teachers at public schools, so they are now over 65 or even above 70 years of age. The country’s university student’s size is 2,145,426. On average, each school has 3,503 students for every professor and 466 ones for every associate professor. Overall, 2.5 professors and 19 associate professors serve as teachers at each university nationwide. These numbers are substantially smaller than those of universities nationwide want, and are much lower compared to the regional and global correlations in higher education.

According to reports by universities across the country, the largest number of professors and associate professors of working age is concentrated in top universities in Viet Nam, such as Viet Nam National Universities in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, the Ha Noi University of Science and Technology, the Viet Nam National University of Agriculture, the Ha Noi Medical University, National Economics University, the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, the University of Thai Nguyen, the University of Can Tho, the University of Vinh, the University of Hue, and the University of Da Nang.

Meanwhile, private universities have witnessed a significant rise in the number of professors and associate professors who serve as teachers over the past 5 years, but they are much lower than what these schools expect. However, the majority of professors and associate professors serve as teachers at private universities after retirement.

The Viet Nam National University in Ha Noi now has 62 professors, accounting for 1.8% of the school’s total faculty members, and 355 associate professors, accounting for 10.3%. The average ratio of professors/associate professors to faculty members in this school is 12.1%.

The University of Natural Sciences prides itself in having the highest number of professors and associate professors in Viet Nam with 49% of those who are associate professors and 5.3% at professor rank.

In the central region, public universities such as the University of Vinh, the University of Hue with 7 member universities, and the University of Da Nang with 7 member universities have made great efforts to offer doctoral training in order to increase the number of recognized professors and associate professors who serve as teachers at these schools by providing postgraduate training courses, as well as facilitating PhD students get their research projects published in prestigious science journals indexed in Scopus and WoS. However, the average ratio of professors/associate professors to full-time faculty members at universities in central region is only 8.11%.

According to data, the university with highest number of professors and associate professors in central region is Duy Tan Private University, with 8 professors and 58 associate professors, accounting for 7.4% of the school’s total faculty members. However, most of professors and associate professors at this school are retired people. The lack of professors and associate professors at the domestic unversities is mainly attributed to a lower than expected number of these people who have been recognized and certified by the State Council for Professorship. On average, around 20 recognized associate professors have been appointed to Duy Tan Private University over the past 5 years,

Each of the remaining public universities in the central region such as the University of Ha Tinh, the University of Quang Binh, the University of Quang Nam, the Pham Van Dong University, the University of Phu Yen, the Central University of Construction has 1 to 2 associate professors. In particular, the Pham Van Dong University has previously had one associate professor but he has now retired. Therefore, the school is now not eligible for postgraduate training due to lack of associate professor even though it boasts strengths in some fields and the number of its lecturers who have earned a doctorate degree meets the regulation required by the Ministry of Education.

To be promoted to the Associate Professor level, the university’s lecturer with a doctorate degree is required to get his/her three research projects published in prestigious science journals indexed in Scopus and WoS in addition guiding at least 2 graduate students to successfully defend their master's thesis. Besides, some private universities have operated in Da Nang, and the central region as a whole, for over 15 years, including the Da Nang University of Architecture, the Dong A Private University, and the Phu Xuan Private University but the number of professors and associate professors at these school is still very modest. There have been no appliants at the ranks of Professors and Associate Professors from univerities in central region in recent years. The main reason is due to lack of postgraduate training in these univerities.

Thus, it is clear that the number of new recognised professors and associate professors in Viet Nam has reached 2,215 people over the past 5 years with an average of 443 people a year, but the number of retired professors and associate professors has been the same as that of new recognised ones. As a result, the ratio of professors/associate professors to students in universities in central region, and Vietnamese cities and provinces as a whole, except two major cities Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, is still low.

In becoming more 'university-like', universities in the central region must provide postgraduate training in addition to offering undergraduate degree courses and community service, as well as conducting scientific research. Furthermore, importance must be attached to attracting professors and associate professors who serve as teachers.

Reporting by TRAN VAN NAM – Translating by H.L