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[kukom]

Why South Korean Universities Have Low International Rankings
By Paul Jambor in Academic Leadership; Volume 7 - Issue 1:

http://www.academicleadership.org/emprical_research/606.shtml


Why South Korean Universities Have Low International Rankings - Part II: The Student Side of the Equation
By Paul Jambor in Academic Leadership; Volume 7 - Issue 3:

http://www.academicleadership.org/emprical_research/Why_South_Korean_Universities_Have_Low_International_Rankings_-_Part_II_The_Student_Side_of_the_Equation.shtml

[kukom]

I forgot to post a summary of the above linked articles, so I'm posting the abstracts below.

Nonetheless, to summarize the main points in short, the articles do state clearly, with empirical, theoretical as well as quantitative support that it is to some extent the bias toward and the unequal treatment of foreign faculty at Korean universities that inadvertently keep their international rankings well below the ranks of universities in the United States, Canada and the UK for instance.

Anyways! Below are the abstracts to summarize the main points of the articles:


Why South Korean Universities Have Low International Rankings
By Paul Jambor
Academic Leadership: Volume 7 - Issue 1

Abstract
It is in the interest of the Korean government as well as Korean universities to improve the international rankings of the domestic universities. Although attempts by the government are being made to improve the situation, the problem may very well be more elementary than Koreans on the whole are willing to admit. Although the answer may be as simple as making it fundamentally more attractive for highly qualified foreign professors and researchers to come to work and more importantly to stay in Korea, this clear-cut solution is in part inadequately applied by Korean universities and the Korean ministry of Education which hopes to remedy the problem via the ‘National Project Toward Building World Class Universities’. In general, the project is designed to attract highly qualified foreign professors and researchers to Korean universities in an effort to improve their international rankings.


Why South Korean Universities Have Low International Rankings - Part II: The Student Side of the Equation
By Paul Jambor
Academic Leadership: Volume 7 - Issue 3

Abstract
While Korean high school students are under great deals of pressure in meeting the educational requirements set out for them, university students nonetheless find themselves excessively involved in student/sports festivals and extracurricular activities that keep their minds off their educational pursuits. It could be said that Korean freshmen fail to take education as seriously as they should, with many claiming that they in fact do little studying. Additionally many students in their senior year are easily let out of having to attend classes if they had already found employment before the conclusion of their studies, perhaps as a result of a misguided attempt by their administrations to improve the student employability figures of their institutions. What is more, Korean students treat foreign professors with lower levels of respect than the Koreans. All things considered, since fifty percent of the Times ranking system is opinion based, it is only logical to conclude that any ineffectiveness and biases in the Korean post secondary system of education would not go unnoticed by those being surveyed. Consequently, all of this may lead to lower international rankings for Korean universities.

[kukom]

I read the Warning post for working at Korean universities and while it's a really good thread and many highly relevant issues are raised by many of the forum members, it is also important to note is that this tendency of Koreans to treat outsiders according to different standards will eventually backfire in their face. That is to say, this kind of unequal and biased treatment does have its own set of severe consequences on the good standing and ranking of Korean universities on the international front.

Remember! Scholars around the world, at times those that have decisive roles in devising the university rankings, will not close their eyes to the inequalities and will take careful note of what goes on in Korea as the borders have long been transparent. Thus, it is in Koreans' best interest to treat foreign faculty and students fairer. But how long will it take for them to realize that they so strongly depend on the rest of the world; not only in terms of marketing their products but also in terms of higher education. After all, 103,000 South Korean students are forced to study at American universities due to the dismal rankings of their domestic universities. Had they treated foreign faculty and international students better, they would not be in a position to have to send their students to higher ranked Universities in the first place.

Simply put, Karma has a unique way of getting back at people for their behaviour toward others, and the same applies to a whole nation of people and South Korea is no exception.

In essence this may be the most compelling reason for Korean universities to change their biased ways since most of what they do is highly calculated and is done to create some sort of benefit for themselves.

What is more, this whole issue should not be taken lightly.

[strummer]

...university students nonetheless find themselves excessively involved in student/sports festivals and extracurricular activities that keep their minds off their educational pursuits.

So that makes them different from US students how again...?

As for treating foreign instructors with less respect, saw plenty of that in the sciences with US students and their Asian instructors/TAs (less about racism and more about hard to understand accents).

[kukom]

Well, there is no claim made that bias doesn't exist at American universities, however, it does not flourish to the extent it does in S. Korea and at least in the US there are laws that prohibit prejudice at the workplace. On the other hand, in Korea, prejudice has long been institutionalized and tolerated on the job and in the eyes of the law.
Moreover, at American univs. foreign faculty are given equal opportunities and pay, and are valued based on their qualifications, experience and potential rather than being judged based on their nationality or skincolor. Also, foreign faculty can be appointed as department heads in the US. That however that almost never happens in Korea as Koreans simply don't want to give over even the tiniest amount of control to the 'foreigner'.

What is more, when Korean students bow to their Korean professors at 90 degree angles, while rarely acknowledging foreign faculty outside of the classroom, it can easily be seen as prejudicial treatment. The differentiation simply sticks out like a sore thumb and it rarely goes unnoticed.
All in all, its largely condoned by Korean society as a whole.

[kukom]

As a new development, I just went to see a lawyer about a possible lawsuit regarding a contract dispute with a well known Korean institution and I was told that to start a lawsuit I would have to fork out 5,500,000 Korean won (approx. 4,830 US dollars) before any proceedings could begin. Without the money up front, the lawyer would simply not get involved.

Since, according to the lawyer, contract disputes are noncriminal in nature, a lawsuit is needed to dispute the terms of a contract in a court of law.

Well, since Korean universities know this to be the case, and more importantly since they are aware of the fact that they are the sole sponsors of the average visiting/foreign/international professor/lecturer (as they need to be since otherwise working visas would not be issued by Korea Immigration Service), they know they have a huge legal advantage over the respective foreign faculty. After all, within a week of the termination of employment, which the university is in its legal right to do (as most Korean university employment contracts have clauses which give room for the institution in question to terminate the contract at their discretion), the foreigner's visa, issued by Korean Immigration Service, simply expires.

In essence, no visa and no 5.5 million Won to throw around means no lawsuit.
Universities are aware of the strong likelihood that the average foreigner will simply leave the job and even the country if s/he is disappointed with the terms of the job.

All things considered, few lawsuits are ever filed by foreign professors in the first place. Nevertheless, my colleague who was, in normal Western circumstances, within his rights to his unpaid earnings was told by the Korean court system that in actual fact he was not entitled to any money.

In short, why would Korean universities not treat the average foreigner partially when they know they can easily get away with it?

Well, what many of them simply don't want to acknowledge is that any bias toward their foreign faculty has the potential to drag their rankings down to undesired levels. That is, since the Times of London rankings methodology is based 40% on peer review (essentially on opinion) and 10% on employer review -a total of 50% on opinion-, it is likely that the negative reputation that Korean universities acquired over the past few years would undoubtedly cause a drop in their international rankings.

[kukom]

Although posted in the 'Working at Korean Universities -- Warning!' column, putting it into perspective at the Times Higher Education Supplement;
here is the article which says it all in short:
(Simply click on the link below to access the original article at THE)

'Slide and prejudice'
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=409506

[embitteredhistorian]

Well, what many of them simply don't want to acknowledge is that any bias toward their foreign faculty has the potential to drag their rankings down to undesired levels. That is, since the Times of London rankings methodology is based 40% on peer review (essentially on opinion) and 10% on employer review -a total of 50% on opinion-, it is likely that the negative reputation that Korean universities acquired over the past few years would undoubtedly cause a drop in their international rankings.

Unfortunately, this means that when some Korean universities misbehave it negatively affects all Korean universities, as non-Koreans tend to lump them all together. This is incredibly unfair; the top universities are incredibly different in terms of professionalism and competence. Imagine if someone said all American universities were biased against foreigners because Northwestern Montana Institute of Basketweaving wrongfully terminated the contract of a Chinese professor.

[kukom]

Well, what many of them simply don't want to acknowledge is that any bias toward their foreign faculty has the potential to drag their rankings down to undesired levels. That is, since the Times of London rankings methodology is based 40% on peer review (essentially on opinion) and 10% on employer review -a total of 50% on opinion-, it is likely that the negative reputation that Korean universities acquired over the past few years would undoubtedly cause a drop in their international rankings.

Unfortunately, this means that when some Korean universities misbehave it negatively affects all Korean universities, as non-Koreans tend to lump them all together. This is incredibly unfair; the top universities are incredibly different in terms of professionalism and competence. Imagine if someone said all American universities were biased against foreigners because Northwestern Montana Institute of Basketweaving wrongfully terminated the contract of a Chinese professor.

Yes, it is incredibly unfair.

However, it's also incredibly unfair to the foreign faculty who are paid less just because they're not Korean. Moreover it's even more incredibly unfair to the Indian professors who get paid even less than the typical western/foreign professor.

Or is it just a simple case of Karma?
In other words, as Newton stated; 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'.
In essence this is the lesson that we all need to learn in life, and Koreans are no exception to the rule.

Well, now we all know why it's so 'incredibly' important for the Korean government to root out prejudice at the university level if they are to have the rankings of Korean universities improve.

[embitteredhistorian]

Well, what many of them simply don't want to acknowledge is that any bias toward their foreign faculty has the potential to drag their rankings down to undesired levels. That is, since the Times of London rankings methodology is based 40% on peer review (essentially on opinion) and 10% on employer review -a total of 50% on opinion-, it is likely that the negative reputation that Korean universities acquired over the past few years would undoubtedly cause a drop in their international rankings.

Unfortunately, this means that when some Korean universities misbehave it negatively affects all Korean universities, as non-Koreans tend to lump them all together. This is incredibly unfair; the top universities are incredibly different in terms of professionalism and competence. Imagine if someone said all American universities were biased against foreigners because Northwestern Montana Institute of Basketweaving wrongfully terminated the contract of a Chinese professor.

Yes, it is incredibly unfair.

However, it's also incredibly unfair to the foreign faculty who are paid less just because they're not Korean. Moreover it's even more incredibly unfair to the Indian professors who get paid even less than the typical western/foreign professor.

Or is it just a simple case of Karma?
In other words, as Newton stated; 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'.
In essence this is the lesson that we all need to learn in life, and Koreans are no exception to the rule.

Well, now we all know why it's so 'incredibly' important for the Korean government to root out prejudice at the university level if they are to have the rankings of Korean universities improve.

I think you're bringing up a straw man in relation to my original point.

Yes, the racism in Korea is bad. Racism anywhere sucks.

The problem is ubiquitous but it is not omnipresent. Some universities, including my own, pay foreigners exactly the same as Koreans. I actually think this is a bit unfair since we foreigners cannot perform many administrative roles because we aren't fluent in Korean.

Instead of pointing out Korea's universities' racism, it would be much more beneficial for everyone to have a blacklist/greenlist system much like there is for Japanese universities.

[kukom]

Well, it sounds like you're one of the lucky ones to work at a place where foreigners and Koreans get paid the same. It's good to see that at least some of the Korean universities understand what's really at stake. But the claim is not that all Korean universities are the same. The claim is that the wrongful actions of the majority will surely taint the reputations of the non-prejudicial minority. Essentially, the repercussions of the biased actions of a significant number of Korean universities will likely be felt on a national level by 'all' Korean universities, whether this is fair or not. It's simply the way things work. Reputations are very important in today's global world of academia.

The blacklist/greenlist system is a good idea. It sounds like a project you could pilot yourself.

Anyways, it is necessary to highlight the shortcomings of the Korean education system to make it better for all foreigners in Korea and to give Korean universities a fighting chance to change for the better. This would mean better opportunities in terms of higher ranked university education on a more affordable domestic level.

All in all, this is not Korea-bashing, but rather a way to try and get Korean faculty and administrators at the local universities to understand the likely consequences of their actions.

In essence it's highlighting opportunities for them to become higher ranked and to give more opportunities for Korean students.

Cheers

[kukom]

One of the reasons why Korean universities are ranked low internationally is because many of them neglect to integrate their foreign faculty. In essence the international faculty are largely excluded from faculty meetings essential for providing high quality education.
Just read the following article published by Times Higher Education today to help drive the point across:

'Lingua frankly'
Published by Times Higher Education Supplement
11 February 2010
Source: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410371

South Korean universities are recruiting more foreign faculty in a bid to internationalise their campuses and boost their standings in world university rankings. But unless better attempts are made to integrate foreign faculty into their academic life, this effort will bear little fruit.

It is standard practice for academics at universities around the world to have regular faculty meetings to discuss key issues. After all, they have the most contact with students and best know their needs, dilemmas and difficulties. But in a significant number of South Korean universities, foreigners are often not invited to such meetings. It is claimed that they cannot attend because of cultural differences and language barriers.

Of course, as we're talking about South Korean universities, it could be convincingly argued that all attending faculty should be prepared to speak Korean, and if they are not, they should be excluded. But English is the world's lingua franca and is spoken by most faculty in Korean institutions, whatever their nationality.

If Korean universities fail to allow faculty members to become integral parts of proceedings, they are neglecting their students' needs. Moreover, it is nonsensical to hire foreign faculty to boost rankings and then not invite them to staff meetings. Measures should be put in place to stop this.

Paul Jambor, Full-time instructor of IFLS, Department of education, art and design, Korea University.

[kukom]

One more article, from a reputable publisher in India, covering the topic along similar lines:

Source: http://educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-2112

'South Korea: Pay discrimination fallout'
Published by: Education World - The Human Development Magazine (February 5, 2010)

South Korea is involved in a big national push to recruit more academics from overseas to internationalise its campuses and improve its standing in world league tables. But the 2009 Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings show that it has a long way to go.

The highest-rated South Korean institution (47), Seoul National University, scores only 29 out of 100 for the proportion of international staff and 33 out of 100 for the proportion of overseas students on campus. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, ranked second in the country and 69 overall, scores 47 for international staff and just 31 for foreign students. Pohang University of Science and Technology, ranked third domestically and 134 overall, scores 50 for international staff and 19 for students.

Academics in South Korea attribute this to unconducive conditions for foreign instructors. In sharp contrast to generally prevalent practice in Asia, the average foreigner’s pay falls significantly below the national average, while their standard lecture hours are frequently twice those of local staff.

At one post-secondary institution an American with a Ph D was told that he was entitled only to the ‘foreigner salary’, roughly 50 percent of the Korean starting salary. Worse still, Indian academics are paid less than Westerners. Significantly The Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings were based on a survey of academic opinion.

“If such a high proportion of Times Higher Education’s new rankings in 2010 is based on a reputational survey, South Korean institutions risk sliding down the table by creating a negative impression through their discriminatory practices. So they must start treating foreign students and faculty with the same respect afforded to local people,” says Paul Z. Jambor, a lecturer at the Institute of Foreign Language Studies, Korea University.

(Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)

Cheers

[kukom]

As already mentioned the bias toward foreign faculty has an indirect yet a significant bearing on the world rankings of South Korean universities. What is more, the bias has a traceable relationship to the protectionism evident within South Korean universities themselves. It is in essence the protectionism that prevents a significant number of foreign professors from becoming tenured at Korean universities.

Essentially, the lack of foreign professors at Korean universities plays a key role in reducing the number of foreign students therein, and the lack of foreign faculty and foreign students itself plays a significant role in reducing the international rankings as the THE-QS World methodology takes into account the foreigner ratios, both students and faculty, when it comes to determining international rankings of universities worldwide (See http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/methodology/simple-overview).

I found a new article through Paul Z. Jambor's personal website (https://sites.google.com/site/paulzjambor/). It's an academic article which is a testament to the above mentioned cause and effect relationship at Korean universities.
It is a recently published article and it has a couple of telling graphs that visually verifies that South Korean universities are indeed protectionist down to the core.

Protectionism in South Korean Universities
By Paul Z. Jambor
Volume 8 - Issue 2

Link to the Article:

http://www.academicleadership.org/emprical_research/Protectionism_in_South_Korean_Universities.shtml

The article is really informative and it's highly recommended reading.

[embitteredhistorian]

Wow. Someone has an axe to grind. I won't say who.

It would be polite to call this study flawed. The article cites single-person blogs, empirical studies, and various websites without distinguishing their reliability or fully exploring their sources.

Most importantly, it does not make a distinction between tenure-track and non-tenure-track positions. This is an incredibly important distinction, since some Korean universities are extremely exploitive and openly do not offer TT positions to foreigners. One Korean university in particular is very well-known for paying foreigners less, giving them worse working conditions, and generally treating them like second-class citizens. Yet this study makes that particular university look like one of the most progressive institutions in the land, which is patently not true.

Also quite shocking was the assumption (unfounded, unproven) that Korean universities are not keen on attracting foreign students. Korea is following the UK model; it knows that Chinese students are a virtually endless income resource, and universities from the most prestigious to the least are aggressively pursuing MOUs, marketing, global education programs, and various other efforts to attract Chinese students. Having had to attend meetings on this subject, I have seen first hand the Korean urge to get foreign students.

Finally, I have been a part of international searches for tenure-track professorships in Korea. I assure you, they are quite desperate to get foreign faculty, but the sad fact of the matter is that few foreigners apply to Korean universities these days. Why? Because of Korea's terrible international reputation, which is the result of the vast majority of Korean universities, which have been protectionist and discriminatory. Some have cleaned up their act, and some have not. Sadly, the damage has been done and people just aren't keen on coming to Korea as a result.

I think the proximity to Kim Jong-Il doesn't help, either.

Sadly, the Byzantine libel laws in Korea make it impossible for an honest and frank discussion of the higher education problems in Korea. To be honest, libel laws make it impossible to discuss a lot of problems in Korea. I would love to assemble a group of tenured and tenure-track professors in Korea to discuss their experiences for the international community to see; however, this would be illegal and potentially punishable by incarceration. If the laws ever change, I will certainly do this. If anyone wants to listen.