National Universities Cannot Appoint More Than Three-Quarters of Faculty from a Single Gender

Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Educational Public Officials Appointment Act Passed at the Cabinet Meeting
Must Increase to Over 25% by 2030

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] In the future, national universities and national university corporations must set and achieve annual targets to ensure that no specific gender exceeds three-quarters of the faculty appointments.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Education announced that the Cabinet reviewed and approved three enforcement ordinances, including a partial amendment to the "Education Public Officials Appointment Decree," which contains these provisions. This amendment to the Education Public Officials Appointment Decree concretizes the gender composition targets for all faculty members at national universities, delegated by presidential decree under the revised Education Public Officials Act enacted in January.

As of 2018, the proportion of female professors at national and public universities was about 16.4%. In contrast, according to the Korea Educational Development Institute's Education Statistics Service, the proportion of female professors at private universities was 28.6%, higher than at national universities. Under the revised enforcement ordinance, national universities must annually increase the proportion of female faculty members to reach at least 25% by 2030. The target for this year is 17.5%.

National university corporations such as Seoul National University and Incheon National University must also amend the Seoul National University Act and Incheon National University Act enforcement ordinances, respectively, to specify gender equality target ratios. Unlike national and public universities, Seoul National University and Incheon National University have not been subject to the Education Public Officials Act and have not been evaluated on gender equality plans for faculty appointments.

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