Korean Job Discussion Forums

[billbile]

If so, they would not be unique in this country...

It is a widespread belief that if Korea can transplant everything from America, such as the education system, the methods of selecting and electing members of parliament and presidents, the corruption levels, etc. then Korea will become rich and powerful too. Oh yes.

A funny thing is a lot of Korean professors around the age of 60 or more. There are only two countries in the world, from their perspective. The rest of the world is practically a giant blindspot. They will ask you "Are from America", and you say no, and you tell them where you are from, and the poor old dears get all confused.

And then they namedrop all the places in America they've been to and the Americans ('famous' or otherwise) that they've met, as though you'll be really impressed.

And they keep talking about "American philosophy" or "American culture" or "American literature" as if it exists in a complete vacuum, when it can be seen better in a wider and more appropriate context (at least sometimes) such as "Western philosophy", English-language literature", etc.

And they will spout on endlessly about, I don't know, the South Dakota University of Beer-Brewing or something, as if it is of a higher order than, say, Oxford or Cambridge. And writers who did not study in the University of Anywhere At All in the U.S. will have studied "somewhere in Europe, perhaps".

It really is odd, and sometimes frustrating.

[weatherman]

Really what do Korean professors profess? Met about 5, that have said anything new. The rest copy.

[Real Reality]

Professors Cheat to Maintain SCI Scores
A professor of engineering said it was common for there to be up to ten co-authors on a paper, most of whom have had nothing to do with it.

A Professor Jeong at "C" University published some 20 international and 30 domestic papers during last year alone, an average of around one a week, while a professor Kang at "D" University aged more than 50, concluded a secret agreement with a newly appointed professor to have his name added to papers in exchange for hiring him as opposed to other candidates. Last year, Professor Han at "E" University who had failed to be promoted managed to do so after his name was appended to his student's paper.
http://www.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200204/200204251020.html

Money key to teaching posts
An Internet poll of 1,072 people who have applied for teaching posts at Korean universities shows that 79 percent of respondents found the process unfair.

Nearly one in five said colleges refused to offer them a position if they did not make a donation to the school foundation or development fund. Private universities were reportedly more likely to demand money than public colleges. The majority of the 166 respondents who were asked to make donations said they were pushed to pay from 50 million won ($42,000) to 100 million won. About 40 said that they were asked to pay more than 100 million won; five said the school demanded 200 million won.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200207/09/200207090054252629900090409041.html

Corruption is one of the most dreadful enemies that the Republic of Korea must defeat at any cost in order to join the ranks of advanced countries and to achieve the long-desired goal of realizing social justice as well. Unfortunately however, Korea, sometimes dubbed the "Republic of Bribes," has a long and winding road to travel before it attains the foremost goal, as seen in the never-ending corruption scandals.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200307/kt2003070113550511330.htm

12% Increase of Professors' Salary Last Year
Full-time professors' average monthly wage (before taxation) last April was 4,914,000 won. Payment for research benefits per professor also increased to 19,979,000 won in 2000, which is 7.9 percent (1,461,000 won) higher than the previous year. The number of articles per professor remained at an average of 2.31 articles.
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2002021400798

Generally, lifetime positions from the beginning.
All of the newly hired SNU professors are guaranteed to retire there. It is two to three times the number for Harvard (30%) and Stanford (40%), and it is alarming that since its founding, only three full-time lecturers hired by SNU have failed to become full professors. In other words, when the school announces the ratio of teaching talent that has been promoted or dismissed, it is not talking about dismissal at all, but rather how many people had their promotions 'delayed.'
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200112/200112170451.html

Korean professors protest against the annual contract system.
Korean professors registered their opposition to the government's plan to adopt an annual contract system for national and public universities. The National and Public University Professors' Association said it would change the existing organization into a labor union unless the government
withdraws the system.
http://www.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200201/200201060176.html

The foreign professor -- colleague or hired hand?
Foreign professors tend to be treated as hired hands, without academic standing, and lacking the possibility of career advancement or tenure.They must submit to yearly contracts (compensated at a rate only 60 percent of their Korean peers) while walled off from the permanent Korean faculty who benefit from travel, research funding, sabbaticals, etc. Moreover, when hundreds of Korean scholars enjoy such perks at American and other foreign universities, something is obviously amiss.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200206/14/200206142349223599900090109011.html