Seoul National University Analyzes Its Students Since 1970

Professor Kim Kwang-ok and his research team at the Seoul National University’s Center for Social Sciences announced their report, “Changes in the Entrance Exam Policies: Who Enters Seoul National University” on January 24 which analyzes 12,538 students who entered under eight majors of the Social Science Department at the university from 1970 until last year.

“The educational policies during the last three decades have failed to increase the entrance rate of students from low-income families, and contrarily, students of wealthy and highly educated parents have had more opportunities to enter the university,” announced the research team. “More and deeper research and discussions are required regarding this phenomenon.”

Parents’ education level and income are being handed down to the next generation. The more educated and socially dominant the parents are, the better the chance of their children to enter Seoul National University, according to the research. Also, this gap has widened increasingly with time.

According to the report, the entrance rate of students with parents with college degrees or higher education increased from 1985’s 2.4 times higher to 2000’s 3.9 times compared to those with parents with high school diplomas.

Additionally, 37 students have entered the university per 10,000 fathers of professional occupations such as doctors or professors, governmental workers higher than the 4th-level, and executive board members of companies, while on average, only 2.2 students of “ordinary” families entered, which makes the entrance rate of the high-income family students amount to 16.8 times higher than that of a normal family. The research team categorized the high-income families according to the occupations, not according to their specific income amounts.

The report also revealed that, on average, 41.9 percent of the students entering the department were from Seoul during the research time period, with 10.3 percent from Busan, and 7.2 percent from Daegu, respectively. This means that more than half of the students are from large-scale cities.

Their GPAs (perfect score of 4.3 points) after entering also showed that high-income and higher-education family students recorded 0.11 points higher.

“It seems that the differences in human resource investments according to the parents’ income and educational level have produced such results,” explained the research team. “It is also another factor that those high-income family students pay more attention to their GPAs because they usually plan to study abroad for their graduate studies rather than plan their job prospects after entrance.”

Gangnam is stronger than ever. Even with the changes in the entrance exam policies of the university, high school students from Gangnam area recorded the highest entrance rate among those from all the other regions of the country, though demonstrating some momentary shock effects from the changes.

With an essay test adapted in 1986, an interview test in 1988, and the high school record and the Scholastic Aptitude Test introduced in 1997, the entrance rate of Gangnam high school students recorded temporary lows in those years. However, the rate recovered its usual highs after a year.

The rate of Gangnam students among all the entering freshmen dropped from the 1985 mark of 3.5 percent to 2.5 percent in 1986, 3.3 percent to 2.6 percent in 1988, and from 3 percent to 2 percent in 1997, which all recovered to their previous status in the next year.

“Gangnam high school students promptly adapted themselves through private lessons according to the new policies and recorded high again in the entrance results,” said the research team. “This is the proof that simple changes in the entrance test policies cannot narrow the gap between regions and income levels.”

The mothers are usually full-time housewives. Seventy-seven percent of the university’s students had full-time housewife mothers. The entrance rate of students with housewife mothers was three times higher compared to those with working mothers in 2003.

“Women with high income spouses tend to become full-time housewives and not participate in occupational duties, which naturally enable them to focus on their children’s education,” analyzed the team.

Students from specialty high schools, including foreign language high schools and science schools, recorded 0.13-point higher GPAs on average after entering the university compared to those graduating from ordinary schools. Female students recorded 0.25-point higher GPAs than male students.

“It was analyzed that students who have repeatedly taken mock exams through private lessons recorded high entrance rates due to normalized school systems and relatively easier exams,” said Center’s Deputy Director Kim Kwang-ok. “The entrance exam policies should focus on leading the overheated educational zeal to productive directions.”

podragon@donga.com