Humanities students and departments struggle in Korean universities

Students walk on campus at a university in Seoul on Wednesday. [CHOI SEO-IN]

False hope. That’s how Kim Jae-won sums up her past decade immersed in humanities.

A Korean history Ph.D. candidate at Korea University, Kim hopes to land a job in academics one day, perhaps as a professor at a university or as a researcher at an institute. But the only problem, she says, is that while most doctoral students seem to have similar goals, very few people actually end up achieving it.

“You study for over 10 years to get a Ph.D., only to see three to four people out of 100 become professors,” Kim says. “Including those who get employed at institutes, that’s about 10 people [in academia]. I don’t even know where the 90 others are, even if we studied for over 10 years together.”

As more universities in Korea scrap their humanities departments due to diminishing popularity among college applicants, scholars here say that the academic disciplines are on the verge of extinction. The most coveted majors in Korean universities are usually business and engineering, mainly because they generally lead to high-paying jobs or because they’re preferred by many companies when hiring new recruits.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute, a total of 155 humanities departments were abolished across the nation in four-year universities over the past nine years, representing a 16 percent drop. There were 962 humanities departments in four-year universities in 2012; in 2021, that figure dropped to 807.

In contrast, the number of engineering departments in four-year universities rose 8.5 percent, from 1,333 in 2012 to 1,446 in 2021.
An official at a private university in Seoul says it’s obvious schools are getting rid of their humanities majors as they scramble to please applicants’ demands amid the nation’s dwindling birthrate.

“Students who graduate with a diploma in humanities have a harder time finding a job after graduating, and fewer students are finding interest in the studies, so smaller universities that struggle with attracting new students usually don’t have any other choice but to scrap those departments first,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Lee Kang-jae, head of research at the National Research Foundation of Korea, says he fears Korea may be looking at things too pragmatically.

“In the short-term, it may seem okay to abolish departments or integrate them with others,” Lee says. “But this eventually means there will be fewer researchers, which could lead to the nation missing out on research that can later serve as an engine for national development.”

BY LEE HOO-YEON [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]