[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bongsu] There is a phrase called ‘Gongdae Areumi’ (literally, ‘Engineering College Beauty’). It became famous in the mid-2000s as the subject of a commercial for a telecommunications company. The term symbolizes various unique phenomena that occur due to the very low number of female students in engineering and other science and technology fields. Although the situation has improved somewhat recently, until the 2000s, it was difficult to find female students in science and engineering departments at universities. In many cases, there were only one or two female students per grade, and it was common for none to be admitted at all. The class representatives of that year’s incoming students were often under tremendous pressure to arrange joint MT (Membership Training) events with nearby women’s universities. This term also carries a mixture of male students’ envy and jealousy toward the few female students admitted to departments with a significant gender imbalance. Female students were treated like ‘princesses’ not only by fellow students but also by professors, earning good grades, monopolizing scholarships, and later receiving recommendation letters from large corporations, which helped them secure good jobs?this ‘prejudice’ is embodied in the term ‘Gongdae Areumi.’ The fact that many talented women who graduated from science and engineering fields have achieved ‘first’ and ‘youngest’ titles in government agencies as well as in industry-academia-research sectors likely influenced this perception.
Recently, the trend of women avoiding science and engineering fields has been gradually improving. The proportion of female students among new enrollees in science and engineering departments nationwide remained around 20% but rose to 25% in 2017, 29.3% in 2018, and 29.2% in 2019. As of 2019, the proportion of female students among all enrolled students was 30.5% (239,940 students), an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the previous year. There is also research showing that this number has increased about 20-fold over the past 40 years. A private admissions institute recently announced that the proportion of female engineering students was only 1.2% in 1980 but increased 20 times to 20.1% last year.
There are differing opinions on why women avoid science and engineering fields. Traditional views hold that physical and innate differences exist?that women excel in linguistic abilities and sensitivity compared to men but are relatively less capable in logical fields such as mathematics and science. On the other hand, it has long been proven that there is no difference in math and science scores between male and female students, and the current trend is to see women’s lower enrollment in science and engineering fields as due to social reasons such as prejudice and lack of experiential opportunities.
The government and academia are making significant efforts to increase women’s participation and employment rates in science and engineering fields. Under the ‘Act on Fostering and Supporting Women Scientists and Engineers’ enacted in 2002, 14 billion KRW was spent last year alone to nurture women scientists and engineers and eliminate gender discrimination in the science and technology sector. The Korea Scholarship Foundation has issued guidelines to allocate 35% of national merit scholarships for all science and engineering students to female students. In March, the National Assembly amended the ‘Framework Act on Science and Technology’ to reflect gender and other characteristics in the early stages of science and technology research and development.
However, there is also significant backlash from ‘Idaenam’ (men in their twenties). This situation is similar to the disappearance of most ‘General Women’s Student Councils’ on campuses. Their argument is that since competition is already equal, providing additional support solely based on gender constitutes reverse discrimination. While government and political efforts so far have focused on eliminating discrimination against women, Idaenam appeal that the situation has changed now.
It is hoped that the uncomfortable term ‘Gongdae Areumi’ will be forgotten by the MZ generation.
Kim Bongsu, Deputy Head of the 4th Industrial Department
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