Bo pian lorr... Fact of life.

In academic or research environment... paper qualifications rule. And among those with the same paper qualifications, perhaps their achievements or reputation will then determine the pecking order.

In poly, the lecturers are either bachelor or many are masters degree holders. Anything less than that, such as the TSO diploma qualification, will automatically relegate to lower rung.

The masters degree holder also will have to eat humble pie in a university or research centre, because the top dogs are the PhDs... the degree holders can only do the admin and support jobs... ha ha ha.