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Comparison of full-time professors between 2007 and 2017, by age group
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Universities are facing financial difficulties for replacing educators who are approaching retirement
South Korea’s professors are getting older. Of the approximately 80,000 full-time teaching staff, 30% will be reaching mandatory retirement age within 10 years. As universities leave the positions of retiring professors unfilled because of insufficient funds, there are concerns that students will be the ones being disadvantaged. According to the “Report on Current Full-Time Teaching Staff at Universities by Age,” which was released by a private-sector organization called the Korea Higher Education Research Institute (directed by Park Geo-yong) on Mar. 27, 28,447 (35.5%) of the 79,961 total full-time teaching staff at universities (including national, public, private and vocational institutions) were at least 55 years old as of the end of 2017. This figure was 12,058 (17.9%) in 2007, which means that this percentage has nearly doubled in ten years. Amid the undeniable graying of the professoriate, the percentage of professors below the age of 50 last year was 45.4%, a full 17.5 points lower than ten years earlier. The increasing number of older professors can be traced back to a university graduate quota system adopted by the government in the 1980s and its liberal approach to university establishment. Because of university policies framed without a long-term plan, the number of professors ballooned by tens of thousands around that time. Professors who were in their early and mid-thirties back then basically fill the top ranks of the cohort of professors today. According to the current Public Education Officials Act, which sets the official retirement age of professors at 65, professors who are 55 years and above – representing more than one-third of professors today – will all have to leave universities within a decade. This will likely result in a shortage of professors from a certain age group. There are also concerns that it could stunt university research activity and have a negative effect on the diversity or research areas. “If professors retire at the same time without adequate replacements, the right to learn could be seriously endangered,” said Lee Seung-jun, president of the National Network of University Student Unions. Despite these conditions, universities have expressed reluctance to hire younger scholars to replace aging professors, citing financial difficulties. University finances have taken a hit because of a recent government-led freeze on student tuition and the policy of reducing the slots available for students. In addition to this, smaller universities in rural areas are in no position to hire new staff and complain about inadequate government funding. The hiring of new professors has continued to decrease in line with the shrinking school-age population, and if this is compounded by the hollowing out of professors of a specific age group, there are concerns that this could weaken the university system itself, which is supposed to perpetuate a cycle of learning and research. There are also growing fears that universities will save money by filling a large number of the positions of retiring professors with professors who are not on track for retirement. The non-retirement track professors are on a sort of indefinite contract with universities, receiving short-term contracts that last between one and three years. But experts in the field of education argue that this is actually the perfect time for universities to correct problematic university hiring practices such as non-retirement track professors. They point out that two or so younger professors could be hired with the salary of one retiring professor. “By replacing retiring professors with new researchers who are young and talented, universities can fulfill their social responsibility, upgrade their research capabilities and become more dynamic. The government should also seriously consider providing financial support for measures to increase university competitiveness and prevent the mass hiring of adjunct professors,” said Yeon Deok-won, a researcher at the Korea Higher Education Research Institute. By Hong Seok-jae, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
