Korea Research
Institute for Vocational Education and Training
Innovation of Higher Education and Lifelong Education to
Cultivate Future Talents
Chapter 02
Chae Chang-Kyun (Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Human Resources for Future and Social Policy Research Division)
Kim Seung-bo (Ph.D., Senior Reserach Fellow, Human Resources for Future and Social Policy Research Division)
Ryu Han-gu (Ph.D., Senior Reserach Fellow, Human Resources for Future and Social Policy Research Division)
The content does not necessarily reflect the official views of the KRIVET.
Chapter
02 Innovation of Higher Education and Lifelong Education to Cultivate Future Talents
Chae Chang-Kyun(Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Human Resources for Future and Social Policy Research Division) Kim Seung-bo(Ph.D., Senior Reserach Fellow, Human Resources for Future and Social Policy Research Division) Ryu Han-gu(Ph.D., Senior Reserach Fellow, Human Resources for Future and Social Policy Research Division)
Section 1 Introduction
As the pace of technological innovation speeds up in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the type of talents needed by society is changing and the need for higher human capital is increasing. Problem-raising and problem-solving skills, critical thinking, creativity, communication skills, and collaboration skills, rather than simple knowledge accumulation, are highlighted as the critical skills needed for the future.
The job landscape is shifting in tandem with these changes. The share of jobs in total employment that require high-level problem-solving skills has continued to increase, while the share of jobs requiring low- or intermediate-level problem-solving skills is on the decline.
In particular, advancing human capital is a relatively more urgent matter for Korea due to its falling fertility rate and rapid population aging, the implications of which will likely involve shortages in the supply of human capital. Therefore, Korea should improve its quality of human capital to overcome such quantitative limitations.
This chapter is focused on post-secondary education, i.e., higher education and lifelong education, rather than primary and secondary education, and seeks to identify policy tasks for nurturing future-oriented innovative talents, which is directly related to improving the quality of human resources. Korea concentrates excessive resources in its elementary, middle, and high schools, while its investment in higher
education and lifelong education is relatively insufficient. Therefore, it is most critical to reform the higher education and lifelong learning system in relation to cultivating innovative talents.
Section 2 Current Status and Problems
1. Universal access to higher education and transformation of higher education
Trow (1973) defined the pattern of the development of higher education into three phases based on attendance rate: elite education for up to 15% of a population, mass education for 15-50%, and universal education for over 50%. Each transition manifests itself in different ways across the norms and standards of academic life, members of an institution, and structures of higher education (Trow, 1999, 2007).
At institutions of universal access, instruction is increasingly unstructured in order to train students coming from various backgrounds, and higher education gradually becomes vocational education to accommodate the range of vocational needs of students and employers.
However, as Korean universities generally employ a “one-size-fits-all” departmental system, they are falling short of the demand for differentiated curriculums in the context of universal access to higher education. The “one-size-fits-all” system inevitably gives rise to a minimized number of full-time faculty members, which in turn makes it impossible to systematically operate various curriculums. There are only about six full-time professors per department at four-year universities and two per department at junior colleges.
2. Lack of investment in and low performance of higher education
In 2018, expenditures on public education per student at the elementary level in Korea, adjusted to US dollars using the purchasing power parity (PPP) index, stood at USD 12,535, which was significantly higher than the average of OECD countries
(USD 9,550). Korea spent USD 14,978 per student at the secondary level, higher than the OECD average of USD 11,192. The nation’s percentage of GDP (based on PPP) spent on elementary and secondary public institutions per student reached 10%p higher than the average of OECD countries. In terms of higher education, however, Korea reported USD 11,203 spent on public education per student, which was far below the OECD average of USD 17,065. Its percentage of GDP spent on public education at the post-secondary level was 26%, much lower than the OECD average of 37%.
Insufficient investment in higher education inevitably leads to the poor performance of higher education. The performance in mathematics of 20-24-year-old Koreans with a college or university degree (or with a degree in progress) remains at the middle level among OECD member countries. In addition, according to the nation’s analysis of numeracy scores by age group comparing individuals with a high school diploma or not and with those with a college or university degree, the difference between the two groups remains at the lowest level among OECD countries. This implies that higher education institutions in Korea are falling behind significantly in terms of improving student competencies compared to their counterparts in OECD countries.
Source: OECD (2016) [as rewritten at the National Education Conference (2019)]
Figure 2-1. Numeracy Scores and Degree of Improvement of 20-24-Year-Old Individuals with a High-School Diploma (or in progress)
3. Decline in school-age population and university crisis outside of the Seoul metropolitan area
Since 2000, the population of Korea has continued to age due to the nation’s low fertility rate, eventually reaching the “population death cross” ― when the number of deaths surpasses births. As a result, the higher-education-age population is also rapidly declining. The Ministry of Education (2019) predicted that the population entering college (18 years old) would begin to fall short of admissions quotas in 2021, with the latter exceeding the former by 124,000 in 2024 if the current university admissions quotas are maintained (497,000 as of 2018). Subsequently, the higher-education-age population is projected to remain flat with little fluctuation from 2024 until 2030, when it is then expected to continue on a downward trend.
This will pose a continued threat to colleges and universities outside of the Seoul metropolitan area. According to the forecast of the fill-rate of university admissions quotas for the academic year 2021, an astounding 12 of the 17 metropolitan governments (Jeju, Jeonnam, Daegu, Jeonbuk, Sejong, Gwangju, Gangwon, Daejeon, Busan, Gyeongbuk, Chungbuk, Chungnam) are predicted to fail to fill their admissions quotas.
4. Necessity to restructure junior colleges
Korea’s over-reliance on private institutions among junior colleges is an exception compared to international standards (Chae et al., 2018). Against this backdrop, expenditures on public education per student at the junior college level stood at USD 6,016 (based on PPP) in 2018. This is only 47.4% of that of four-year universities in the nation (USD 12,685), compared to the OECD average rate of 69.0%, and 47.5% of the OECD average for the same expenditures (USD 12,671).
The low level of expenditures on public education for junior colleges gives rise to substandard conditions for education in Korea. In 2019, the ratio of enrolled students per full-time teaching staff was 52.8, which is still high despite a 9%p drop compared to 2010. The recruitment ratio of full-time teaching staff against the state’s
designated number of faculty was 58.8%, which means that there were only 2.1 full-time teaching staff per department. As a result, it is difficult to expect quality education at the junior college level.
Another issue for junior colleges in Korea lies in that they mainly offer full-time programs for full-time students rather than part-time programs. This lack in providing lifelong education for adults, results in a proportion of part-time students that is less than 1%. In recent years, their programs have been more biased towards higher-education-age students, which is particularly worrisome. The ratio of adults aged 25 and older among the students entering junior colleges fell from 18.4% in 2007 to 10.0% in 2019.
5. Lack of opportunities for lifelong education and inequality
Although lifelong learning continues to be emphasized for its importance in the development of Korea’s human capital, the nation’s rate of participation in lifelong learning (25-64 year-olds) is 50%, which is only average compared to other OECD member countries. It ranks 17th out of 34 countries for which statistics are available.
Switzerland tops the list with 69%, followed by New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and Norway, all of which exceed 60%. In terms of the rate of participation in job-related lifelong learning, Korea drops further down to 20th with 38%, which is significantly lower than that of Switzerland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Norway ― all over 50%.
In addition, inequality in opportunities for lifelong learning is a far more serious problem in Korea than in other OECD countries. As a result, lifelong learning is exacerbating rather than reducing inequality in the labor market, which poses another issue to the nation.
6. Slow digital transformation in work and learning
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a variety of disruptions and challenges across all realms of politics, economy, society, and culture at home and abroad. One major consequence has been the emergence of a digital transformation in work and learning, which is directly related to the development of human resources. The broad recognition of its necessity and possibility has served as a groundbreaking opportunity to smother doubts and negative criticism about digital transformation in Korean society.
However, the related challenges to be overcome include not only the burden of the large-scale investment required at the initial stage, but also the rigid and uncompromising attitudes that prevail across the government, education, and business communities as well as the limitations of social customs and the institutions with complex interests at stake. In this context, it can be understood that a wide spectrum of correspondences towards digital transformation is typically observed among companies of various sizes, industrials sectors, and universities.
Section 3 Policy Tasks
1. Restructure the system of higher education
It is necessary to restructure the higher education system of Korea, under which colleges and universities are classified into two groups ― general college/university and junior college. The current system creates the issue that the higher education institutions setting the various norms and conditions of education are classified into one general group. To solve this problem, general colleges and universities should be sub-divided into research-oriented and education-oriented university groups, while junior colleges should be restructured to respond to the diverse learning needs of adults throughout their life cycle rather than offering a degree-centered curriculum.
This is similar to the current system of state universities in California, which employs a tripartite structure composed of research-driven universities (University of California), education-oriented universities (California State University), and community colleges (California Community Colleges).
2. Shift universities from integration to specialization
If general colleges and universities fail to reorganize themselves to focus on specific fields of study, it would be difficult for them to provide high-quality education delivered through specialized and distinctive curriculums with only six to seven professors per department. In addition, innovative methods of teaching and learning such as project-based learning and convergence curriculum, which are the core instruments of higher education innovations, are based on the professionalism and diversity of education. However, if the current faculty size and curriculum are maintained, higher education institutions would likely only produce superficial innovations. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage universities to shift into specialization in particular disciplines and majors and boost their competitiveness.
Specialized departments should have more than 20 full-time professors and 50 subjects for each field of major. A number of professors and subjects will allow
universities to strengthen the professionalism of the curriculum, introduce a multi-track system, and foster convergence talents through converging adjacent fields. Higher education institutions that meet such criteria for each major area should be granted the title of “Specialized University” and given discretion in student recruitment, which together will induce universities to shift into specialization.
3. Expand the participation of local governments in the operation of local universities
With the current industry-academia cooperation model led by individual universities, it is difficult to reduce the mismatch between labor supply and demand:
higher education institutions provide uniform education for more than 20 students at the same time while local companies, in particular SMEs, need to hire a couple of workers individually. To solve this problem, it is necessary to establish a hub institution affiliated with the local government to connect local businesses and higher education institutions and adjust the labor demand of local companies, including SMEs. This hub institution could aggregate the small number of workers required by SMEs and connect them with higher education institutions that can produce workforce as needed, which will help more SMEs participate in industry-academia collaboration.
Meanwhile, in order to expand the participation of local governments in the operation of local universities, it is a prerequisite to address the lack of financial resources at the local government level. One promising solution is to provide about half of the central government’s fund for national and private higher education institutions outside of the Seoul metropolitan area to the local governments as local grants (current subsidy for the private sector). Local governments could use the subsidy to fund local colleges and universities with additional financial resources of their own added.
4. Address marginal universities quickly
It is necessary to address marginal universities in a timely manner. Colleges and universities that cannot stand on their own should be identified as quickly as possible and the process of closing them should be initiated. This will help reduce damage to their students and staff and minimize social costs.
To this end, it is necessary to establish appropriate standards to define a marginal university and monitor universities based on them. It will also be necessry to provide incentives for the foundations of such marginal universities to close voluntarily through the closing process. In this regard, a special law should be enacted to allow the return of residual assets after liquidation. However, returning remaining properties to individuals should be avoided as it can cause public backlash. It would be more appropriate to turn over all remaining assets to the grants of public-service foundations rather than to individuals.
5. Support national universities in local areas to enhance competitiveness
Propping up local universities should start with national universities in local areas.
Scale, in particular the size of departments, matters in such efforts.
Today, the average number of full-time faculty per department at national universities outside of the Seoul metropolitan area is 5.5. This is similar to the 5.1 at private universities in local areas, but it is only half of the 10.7 at national and public universities and even smaller than the 7.7 at private universities in Seoul.
Against this backdrop, it is difficult to expect that national universities in local regions can provide quality education. To help them secure a threshold capacity to carry out adequate levels of education and research, it is required to consolidate and dissolve national universities within a region.
In addition, the specialization of national universities by each region should be promoted. In the cases of the School of Electronics Engineering of Kyungpook National University and the School of Mechanical Engineering of Pusan National University, the number of full-time faculty reached an impressive level of 73 and 56,
respectively, which is the fruit of specialization policies from the past. The specialization of colleges and universities should be pushed forward strongly, and inter-regional departmental exchange arrangements should be positively reviewed in accordance with the industrial characteristics of each region.
6. Establish Korea’s own community college system
The community college system refers to open universities that provide high-quality, flexible, and diverse lifelong learning courses, including associate-degree programs, while being organically linked with vocational high schools and four-year colleges.
Such adult-centered, part-time-centered open universities provide adults with a second chance at learning and create public value. The system is intended to support lifelong learning through establishing community colleges for each region. This can also serve as an initiative to restructure junior colleges.
As a part of such efforts, it is necessary to establish a “lifelong learning sharing university” in the short term to promote organic connection and cooperation between lifelong education providers in each region. The sharing system of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) can be jointly operated by universities that provide TVET programs, including provincial junior colleges, private junior colleges, some four-year colleges, and Korea Polytechs, as well as by lifelong learning institutions and vocational training institutions, while they retain ownership of their individual institutions. The existing provincial junior colleges and Korea Polytechs can serve as the linchpins of the sharing system. Institutions can be involved in the sharing university as a whole or participate in some programs only.
From a mid- to long-term perspective, the lifelong learning sharing university in each region should be developed into a single community university with Korea’s own system. Korea Polytechs and provincial junior colleges will lead the merger of private junior colleges and vocational training institutions.
7. Introduce National Lifelong Scholarships to boost financial support for lifelong learning
The National Tomorrow Learning Card of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and Lifelong Learning Voucher of the Ministry of Education should be integrated into National Lifelong Scholarships to support any citizen in participating in various educational programs.
The National Lifelong Scholarships will be provided for all citizens throughout their life cycle divided into two groups: young people (aged 19-34) and those 35 or older.
The former and the latter will be eligible for the First Scholarship in Life and Lifecycle Transition Scholarship, respectively.
The amount of the First Scholarship in Life will be equivalent to the tuition fees for four years at a national or public university (approximately KRW 16 million per person). The scholarship will be provided both for those students entering college and those who are not in the form of a voucher. The Lifecycle Transition Scholarship is a system to support the education and training costs (e.g., for career transition) for individuals aged 35 and older throughout their life.
It is necessary to seek measures to reduce the funding strain and ensure the sustainability of the scholarship system. For example, if a citizen who used the voucher dies and leaves inheritable assets, the voucher amount used must be paid to the government as a tax first and then the remaining assets can be inherited after inheritance taxes are paid.
8. Introduce a Work-to-School Transition system where work and learning create a virtuous cycle
The Work-to-School Transition system provides workers with a relatively long-term opportunity to improve their skills, while also allowing the unemployed to fill vacancies during the long-term TVET period of workers (Chae, 2020).
Under the system, workers are awarded with relatively long-term TVET opportunities (e.g., up to one year) after a certain tenure, such as 20 years. It is
expected to contribute to improving their job security, promotion potential, and movement to a better job.
The system can also help enhance the employment potential of the unemployed through actual work experience. Work experience itself is a more effective tool for education and training, and the network formed during work experience can have a positive effect on the employment of the unemployed. It can also provide an opportunity for them to break out of the vicious cycle where inexperienced workers cannot get a job due to their lack of work experience, which in turn deprives them of work experience opportunities to get a job. In particular, the system deserves attention as a solution for the youth unemployment problem facing Korean society since young people can be hired to fill vacancies created by training.
Furthermore, companies can more actively respond to technological changes as education and training for employees will be possible without disruptions in production.
9. Establish a periodic capacity assessment and consulting system for adults
Existing information systems should be connected to establish a single, comprehensive lifelong TVET system to allow citizens to easily access information.
Creating a one-stop service system from the learner's point of view is urgently needed, which can offer competency assessment, counseling service, and education and training information to all citizens.
Periodically assessing the skills of adults should become mandatory, much like a health exam. In addition, based on the competency analysis results, counseling services on education and training tailored to each individual's characteristics should be provided (confirmation of necessary competencies and provision of information on education and training to develop related competencies for each individual). To do this, the number of counselors and related experts should be increased significantly.
10. Overhaul institutional standards and regulations centered on the in-person environment for the digital transformation of work and learning
First of all, it is necessary to revise various laws and rules, including the current Higher Education Act, which are in conflict with digital transformation. Digital transformation is not simply an alternative tool to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
It will be accelerated further and continue to demand new standards as technology advances in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare for digital transformation with innovative ideas such as converting the current positive approach of the Higher Education Act to a negative list system that presents only minimum standards.
In addition, related to the expansion of remote classes, improving policies on class operation, content evaluation, and curriculum opening is urgently needed. In other words, it is necessary to redefine the principles of operation centered on the concepts of time and space, which make up the standards for a range of provisions of the Higher Education Act. They include the infrastructure, lectures, faculty, and academic management of higher education as a whole. It is necessary to amend teacher-related prescriptions and numerical academic standards such as the attendance and credits required for completion under the Higher Education Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Higher Education Act. The provisions of the regulations entrusted to the Minister of Education and related authorities should also be put in statutory form to enhance the clarity and predictability of policies.
Furthermore, when the surrounding systems, including financial support programs, evaluation, and audit, are improved for these policies to work, universities will be able to survive with competitiveness built upon autonomy even in an uncertain and challenging environment in the age of digital transformation.
Section 4 Conclusion
Human resource development is the mid- to long-term core strategy for the inclusive and innovative growth of a nation. It is for this reason that major advanced countries are declaring their human resource plans as a national initiative and developing preemptive mid- to long-term strategies to prepare for the full-scale era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, in the case of Korea, human resource development has been placed in the low-priority queue, and public awareness of the need for human resource strategies is low.
Moving forward, human resource development should be set as the top priority of the government, and related policies should be established. This chapter identified policy tasks for nurturing future-oriented innovative talents in order to meet the demands of the times. In particular, the discussion focused on higher education and lifelong education, which have been relatively neglected compared to elementary and secondary education, and 10 policy tasks in total were presented.
First, it was argued that higher education institutions should be restructured into a tripartite support system of research-oriented universities, education-oriented universities, and community colleges. In addition, it was pointed out that the competitiveness of universities should be strengthened by promoting their shift into specializations in a respective major area. The participation of local governments in the operation of local universities should be expanded, and to this end, the need to prepare countermeasures to support the lack of financial resources of local governments was highlighted. It was also suggested that marginal universities should be identified and closed, that the scale of national universities in local areas should be expanded to enhance their educational and research competitiveness, and that junior colleges should be newly restructured into Korea’s own community college system.
In relation to lifelong education, it was emphasized that National Lifelong Scholarships should be introduced to reinforce financial support for lifelong learning, and the Work-to-School Transition system in which work and learning create a virtuous cycle should be established. The development of a system to enable periodic
competency assessment and career consulting for adults was also suggested.
Lastly, in order to support the innovation of higher education and lifelong learning, it was highlighted that various institutional standards and regulations centered on the in-person environment should be completely overhauled to realize the digital transformation in work and learning.
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Date published December 31, 2021
Printing Decmber 2021
Published by Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training(KRIVET) Publisher Jang-soo Ryu
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Author Chae Chang-Kyun, Kim Seung-bo, and Ryu Han-gu
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