Major Companies Clearly Dominate the Expansion of Regional Contract Departments
For employment-condition contract departments, regional expansion amid dependence on major companies has emerged as a challenge. Diversifying participating companies is key before expanding flagship national universities.
As the government seeks to expand employerlinked contract departments centered on flagship national universities, it has been found that the relevant departments currently in operation rely heavily on participation from large corporations.
According to an analysis of data from the Ministry of Education by the office of Rep. Koh Minjung of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, 18 of the 38 employerlinked contract departments in bachelor’s and integrated bachelor’smaster’s programs nationwide as of June 30 involved large corporations. However, only seven companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Hyundai Motor, participated in these departments, and there were no cases of participation by midsized companies or public institutions.
Departments linked to large corporations were concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, and their fields were also centered on advanced industries such as semiconductors, batteries, displays, telecommunications, and information security. By contrast, contract departments linked to small and mediumsized enterprises at universities outside the capital region involved multiple companies in consortium form, resulting in a wider variety of fields. If the government is to expand the development of local talent, broadening the range of participating companies is pointed out as a key task.