"What school did you graduate from?"

This is one of the most frequently asked questions you hear after finishing college, and launching a career.

In a society which highly values an individual's educational credentials, the school you attended is regarded as the most important element in determining your future, as in your job, salary, and even marriage, regardless of what potential and capabilities you actually have.

"In Korean society, people are graded by the name value of the schools they come from," said Jung Tae-hwa, senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. "This is a society in which it is hard to breathe for those full of potential and ability."

Just by taking a glimpse at the recent degree forgery scandal, namely the one involving the disgraced former professor, Shin Jeong-ah, one can see how essential it is to obtain degrees from prestigious universities in today's "hakbul," or credential, society.

Over the past several months, many high-profile figures in the arts, broadcasting, education and religious circles have either confessed to lying about their educational records, or were found to have bogus degrees.

Experts say this stems from a society that has supremely valued credentials, dating back to the traditional Confucian attitude, and strengthened in the process of industrialization and nation-building that was led by a few, especially since independence from Japan in 1945.

In Korea, more than 80 percent of high school graduates advance into four-year universities or two-year colleges.

The status of the person's school hugely affects his or her future, and stays with the person throughout his or her career, like a permanent name tag.

Lee Kong-hoon, a member of a civic group called the "Hakbul-free Society Movement," called this credential-oriented phenomenon, "a sickening societal situation."

"The problem with such a system is that only a few students who excel in their academic studies during middle and high school are privileged to move on to prestigious universities, and it is this elite group which eventually rules the nation. Those left out of the game have to live a comparatively low-quality life after that," said Ha Jae-keun, administrative director of Anti-Hakbul, which is an organization dedicated to dismantling the credential-obsessed society.

According to a survey headed by Jung of the state-run KRIVET, over 57 percent of Koreans have an inferiority complex regarding their credentials, and more than 70 percent said that having graduated from lower-tier schools makes them feel deprived.

The survey, which was conducted in 2003, was answered by 2,300 individuals from various groups, including high school, undergraduate students, parents, human resources officials at companies, and workers at public and private companies who have received a bachelor's degree.

Problems encountered in a credential-driven society

Surveys have proven that the name of the individuals' schools has a notable effect on finding employment and moving up the ladder.

About 65 percent of the KRIVET survey respondents agreed that hakbul was the determining factor in recruitment at private companies.

Research done by the Korea Labor Institute in 1999 also revealed that the most crucial factors in employment were the applicants' schools, academic records, and fields of concentration.

The government data also showed that more than half of the high-ranking public officials - ministers and above - on average are graduates of the nation's top- ranking Seoul National University, at least since the Chun Doo-hwan administration in the early 1980s.

"Our society often doesn't look at the person's ability and achievements, but tends to focus on the name value of the person's college or university," Jung said. "Hakbul is even a scoring factor when looking for a mate through matchmaking companies. This shows a pre-modern side of our society."

This reality forces parents to spend tens of thousands of dollars on private tuition to assist their children in becoming a part of the elite group that can secure high-profile jobs.

This is where "education fever" in Korea kicks in, and the private education market prospers.

A 2007 OECD report yesterday showed that 7.2 percent of the national GDP is spent on education. The National Statistical Office announced in 2004 that an average-income family spends 232,000 won ($250) per week on private education - namely, on private tutoring and hagwon fees, excluding costs incurred from public schooling.

However, such a situation often has a damaging impact on the society, educational experts said, such as "a higher suicidal rate for students, and destroying the framework of public education," said Ha, a member of the Anti-Hakbul organization.

A survey of students done by a teachers' union showed that one-fifth of the respondents said they have contemplated suicide, and 5 percent of the students actually tried to do it, he said.

It is also becoming difficult for rural schools to survive because many of them receive less support from the government, simply because they are not in major urban areas, and don't have name-recognition. Parents of students living in such areas also spend large sums on education so as to get their kids into higher-ranking schools, and open up better opportunities for them in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Kim Hyung-gon, a professor in the Mass Communications department at Tongmyong University in Busan, confirmed that a large percentage of highly-skilled students relocate to Seoul.

"The number of students coming to this university is on the decrease because more and more students are leaving town right after high school," he said.

A major economic gap has resulted in unbalanced regional development, as a great number of students coming from other regions seek to find a job in Seoul, and start a new life in the nation's capital.

Some may even fly out of the country to find better opportunities abroad, despite the huge costs. The most popular destinations include English-speaking countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said officials at Seoul Education, a local company that arranges study-abroad trips for students.

About 2,000 students on average leave the country every month, according to the Bank of Korea. Korean parents are also reported collectively to fork out $2.43 billion, while foreign students here spend $10.5 million, creating a huge overall budget deficit.

Trying to find solutions

There are many different proposals when it comes to how to reform this credential-fixated society.

They include reforming the hiring system at public and private companies, and convincing universities to put their utmost efforts into accommodating such a societal change, educational experts said.

"Those serving in various industries have been repeatedly saying that universities really do no training for life after school, but they also say that the credentials are the only factor that can prove a person's potential," Jung said. "Instead, they should develop their own hiring system that can test a person's competence, attitude and eligibility within his or her own field of concentration. The system should encourage workers to go further, and show their full potential to be hired and promoted."

Some experts call on the government to take a step back, and to corporatize all national universities to offer equal conditions that they believe can lead to fair competition.

The most crucial factor is changing the attitude of citizens, and moving beyond this belief that educational credentials are everything.

It should be the future, not the past, of a person that needs to be emphasized to evolve into a meritocratic society, many education experts agreed.

"Whether it is the individual or the nation, we should have a future-focused view for greater development," said Kim Dong-hoon, a Kookmin University law professor. "The moment someone puts meaning into what they achieved in the past, the person's life will be shortchanged."

By Cho Ji-hyun

(sharon@heraldm.com)

2007.09.19