Several leading universities in Ho Chi Minh City are offering significantly higher salaries to foreign professors and Ph.D. holders, with some earning up to three times more than their Vietnamese counterparts.

According to job postings from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT) and other institutions, the salary gap is substantial:

Vietnamese faculty salaries:

Ph.D.: 18 million VND/month ($710)
Associate professor: 28 million VND/month ($1,100)
Professor: 33 million VND/month ($1,300)
Foreign faculty salaries:
Ph.D.: 54 million VND/month ($2,130)
Associate professor: 84 million VND/month ($3,300)
Professor: 99 million VND/month ($3,900)

In addition to higher salaries, foreign faculty members receive two round-trip flights per year, accommodation support for the first three months, and visa assistance.

Vietnamese universities increasing efforts to attract top talent

HCMUT is currently recruiting 27 foreign Ph.D. holders in fields such as semiconductor technology, data science, mechatronics, applied mathematics, and biotechnology.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities is also hiring 17 Ph.D. holders and is offering:

Vietnamese Ph.D. salary: 15 million VND/month ($590)
Foreign Ph.D. salary: 30 million VND/month ($1,180)

These universities argue that higher salaries for foreign faculty are necessary to attract international talent and enhance research and education quality.

Research funding and additional benefits

Apart from high salaries, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) offers significant financial support for research, including:

200 million VND ($7,800) in research grants for young scientists in their first two years.
1 billion VND ($39,000) for advanced research projects.
Up to 30 billion VND ($1.2 million) for top-tier researchers to establish laboratories.

Additionally, professors and Ph.D. holders at institutions like Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Law receive one-time recruitment bonuses:

Professor: 350 million VND ($13,700)
Associate professor: 250 million VND ($9,800)
Ph.D. holder: 150 million VND ($5,900)

While Vietnamese universities are increasing pay for both local and foreign faculty, the significant salary gap remains a topic of debate.

With rising competition in higher education, Vietnamese universities are offering attractive compensation packages to foreign academics in hopes of boosting research output and global rankings. However, the disparity in pay between local and foreign faculty raises questions about equity and retention of Vietnamese talent in academia.

Le Huyen