The Virtual Collapse of Korean Graduate Education
 
    Horace H. Underwood
    Executive Director (Fulbright)
    Korean-American Educational Commission
    Seoul, Korea
    hhu@fulbright.or.kr
    www.fulbright.or.kr

    [ED. This article was originally published as a Letter to the Editor in IEKAS 02-37 (December 6, 2002).
    Dr. Underwood wrote this in response to several articles in Korean daily about the sorry state of the
    graduate education in Korea.]

    I feel I must comment on the JoongAng Daily articles about graduate education, particularly Ph.D.
    education, in Korea, as reported in the past two issues of IEKAS.

    Korean faculty are all up in arms about the situation, and SNU professors are quoted as saying that
    the "government" should "do something" to prevent students from going overseas and to force them
    to study in Korea.  However, at least as long as I have been a professor in Korea (since 1971), the
    top Korean universities have been  sending the following messages to their potential Ph.D. program
    students:

        1) You will have no decent library or facilities here.
        2) You will get very little financial aid.
        3) You will work with poorly qualified fellow students.
        4) And, when you finish, we will not hire you.

    These messages, understandable when Korea was a poor country, have continued even though Korea is
    now in the OECD and listed among the rich nations of the world. Students are not stupid, particularly in
    a country like Korea where many important messages are not said directly but conveyed indirectly in
    such a "high-context" manner. The students heard these messages, and the best students continue to
    go overseas for their doctorates.  WHY IS ANYONE SURPRISED?

    Now 87% of Yonsei's full-time faculty have overseas Ph.Ds.  Frankly, I think this is a GOOD thing -
    let Korean universities concentrate on improving undergraduate education, and let American
    universities handle the burden of highly-expensive doctoral education!  Korea's economy and society
    will continue to benefit.