Decrease in Job Satisfaction of Professors

According to a survey by the Kyosu Shinmun (Professors' Newspaper) targeting 205 professors at 88 universities around Korea, many are not satisfied with their jobs.

Some 75.9 percent of the respondents answered that they were 'satisfied with their job'. Although this is a high contentment rate when compared to other jobs, it represents a 10 percent decrease from the figure recorded in 1997.

On the other hand, 72.5 percent of respondents answered that "being a professor is a job with a high level of anxiety", expressing their feelings of pressure caused by the quality assessment system and the annual salary system introduced by the government recently.

When asked about the independence of university administration, 40.5 percent said that it had 'increased' and 15.1 percent said that it had 'become less independent'.

Matters related to research conditions and administrative procedures are the biggest complaints of professors. Also, 50.3 percent of respondents did not agree with the intern system that is to be introduced in 2002.

by Shin Yong-ho