Universities must do more to cultivate future's problem solvers

Although rigorously studying for exams to go to medical school in Seoul seems like the only definition of success in Korean higher education, it's the university's role to show students that there are many more options.

Former Seoul National University President Oh Se-jung, left, and Minerva University President Mike Magee pose for a photo during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. [KIM JONG-HO]

SHINAN, South Jeolla — Although rigorously studying for exams to go to medical school in Seoul seems like the only definition of success in Korean higher education, it's the university's role to show students that there are many more options.

“I think universities have a responsibility in shaping the perceptions of young people about both the careers available to them, but also about the contribution that they should be making to make a better world,” said Mike Magee, president of Minerva University.

Options seem especially limited in Korea, where all top students aim for universities in Seoul and elite medical schools. Even promising fields such as engineering and sciences are considered a second option for Korean students who seek the stars.

Oh Se-jung has also witnessed those changes at the forefront of Korean higher education as the president of Seoul National University (SNU) between 2019 and January 2023.

“One of the reasons we see that tendency in Korea is because high school students have to choose their majors before they enter the university, before exploring their future possibilities,” Oh said. “Sometimes parents will make decisions for the students, and parents want high-paying jobs for their children.”

Letting students explore is something Minerva University excels at, allowing all first-year students to go soul-searching while taking foundational courses. Students decide their majors and concentrations in the following years, delving into capstone projects of their choice in their senior year.

Oh and Magee sat down for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily during the Kim Dae-jung Peace Forum in Shinan, South Jeolla, on Thursday to discuss the roles and responsibilities of universities.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Participants of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Forum 2023 pose for a photo at C-ONE Resort Jaeundo on Thursday. [JEOLLANAMDO]

Q. There is an ongoing trend with top students aiming for medical schools as doctors are highly paid in Korea. Society needs people with knowledge in different fields, so what can universities do to make sure they foster students in a variety of different areas?

Oh: Medical schools are also popular in the United States but not as competitive as in Korea. Also, in the United States, students go to medical school after completing a four-year university program. That period gives students time to think about the future and what they want. We should change the entrance exam system in Korea so that our students have time to think about their future, too.

Magee: I'm certainly trying to make sure that our students are aware of the biggest challenges facing societies and the global community and how they might pursue career pathways where they can be part of the solution. And I do think university presidents are very important moral leaders in the global community.

Minerva University was named the most innovative university this year for the second consecutive year by World's Universities with Real Impact. Can you explain Minerva University’s unique education model?

Magee:Three main innovations are integrated into our academic program. One is innovation in global cultural immersion. We have a very globally diverse student population with alumni from 100 nations, with less than 15 percent being U.S. students. So, there's a level of global diversity at Minerva University that is a learning experience in itself for our students. We also designed a program where, rather than spending four years on a U.S. campus, students get to live and learn in economically and culturally vibrant cities around the world, including Seoul.

The second is our small seminar classes that can take place virtually. We've trained our faculty on a dialogue-based pedagogy for that learning environment. Lastly, we have a project-based learning curriculum in all the cities where our students live and learn. If you're interested in energy sustainability, you will have projects that we've designed for you in Seoul that look very different from the projects you'll do in Buenos Aires. Students are able to take advantage of the local cultural and economic context for that.

Former Seoul National University President Oh Se-jung talks during the interview. [KIM JONG-HO]

Do you see Minerva University’s system being applied to the Korean higher education system in the future?

Oh: I’m also quite interested in such innovation, especially the small seminars. However, one question I have regards the different characteristics of Korean education. In Korea, universities have a student body that’s 10 times as big as Minerva University’s. So how can we adopt this very good system to mass education?

[SNU] also tried something similar with our Living & Learning (LnL) program. We only selected around 300 students for the program this year as a trial. At the beginning of the program, we did have difficulty adjusting to it. We're still very happy with the results but would love to continue and grow.

Magee:I think there's a lot that we can learn from each other. Minerva University is beginning to grow. We have 600 undergraduate students but are planning to grow to more than 3,000. And the challenges that President Oh was describing will now be our challenges.

Minerva University also stresses interdisciplinary education. How does an interdisciplinary approach better prepare students for the challenges they face further on in life?

Magee:When we designed Minerva University, we made a foundational core curriculum that would be valuable for problem solvers. And that's an interdisciplinary program that would be very valuable to problem solvers.

All of our students take that curriculum in their first year, designed to teach our students how to take knowledge and skills from one discipline like philosophy and apply it to other disciplines like artificial intelligence. We do that more and more to build a set of interdisciplinary problem-solving skills that they will carry with them for a lifetime. About 12 percent of our alumni have founded their own businesses, and I think it is partly due to the fact that they become expert problem solvers.

One of Korea's biggest challenges is its low birthrate, which also brings down the student population. Universities outside of Seoul are struggling even more as students wish to attend schools in Seoul. How do you think Korean universities can overcome this crisis?

Oh:One problem is that students are concentrated in the Seoul area. We should help regional universities make progress in research and education so that students growing up in those areas want to study there. Another solution to overcoming the crisis is globalization. Universities should accept more students from foreign countries.

Magee:I don't think the falling birthrate is a problem exclusive to Korea at all. There are so many nations around the world that are going to face the challenge of falling birthrates. But I actually see this as an area of enormous opportunity going forward.

All of our students spend at least one semester in Seoul. Many of them fall in love with Seoul as a city, and there's an opportunity for our students to think about SNU as a place where they can continue graduate studies. For instance, SNU offers many graduate programs that we do not offer. So, I think these types of global collaborations can be part of the future and global partnerships, and they could potentially be mutually beneficial in several ways.

It could be a way to solve the challenges related to the declining population and give Korean students more opportunities to collaborate with peers from around the world and build global professional networks for themselves.

Minerva University President Mike Magee talks during the interview [KIM JONG-HO]

Many universities aim to globalize, but what should be done to create an inclusive environment that actually welcomes foreigners?

Magee:There needs to be an entire program of learning for students that not just teaches them practical issues such as dealing with currency in Korea but also about how to be good citizens in Korea.

When our students arrive in Seoul, we very intentionally teach them about what it means for them to live as foreign citizens in Seoul and what it means to be a good citizen in Korea. And I think that has been quite helpful. It's contributed to their success and their ability to get the most out of their learning experience here.

Any university that is planning to bring a more global population of students into Korea needs to be very intentional about the life skills that they are helping students build in order for that experience to go well.

Oh:We also have a lot of things to learn. Our university has a graduate school of international studies, and about half of them are students from other countries. When I talked to those students 10 or 15 years ago, many of them weren't happy. Many left due to language barriers, and the Korean population wasn't as friendly to foreigners back then. Much of that has changed, and we're seeing many more people who want to come to Korea. Yes, there are problems like visas that make it hard, but our attitude toward foreigners is a factor that plays the biggest role.

Although many Koreans still see university education as a must, that isn’t necessarily the case in the United States. Is there anything that can be done on the university's side to solve the problem?

Magee:The vast majority of students and families in the United States still aspire toward college degrees and see that as the best pathway to economic prosperity. There is a debate about whether you need a four-year college degree in order to attain them in certain fields, things like computer science and engineering. There are debates about whether we should help some students follow pathways from high school into careers where a college degree is unnecessary but you can still earn a living wage. And I think it's very healthy for us to ask those questions. Large employers in the United States are starting to change their own hiring practices so that they don't require a bachelor's degree for certain jobs and take a more skill-based approach.

However, the real crisis in the United States is related to the costs of education and debt. Higher education costs in the United States are spiraling out of control. Our most selective universities have become luxury goods, and a certain percentage of the U.S. population will almost pay any costs for higher education. If a university knows that there's almost no limit to what it can charge, that doesn't incentivize universities to think about affordability. I think that's a very dangerous situation for higher education and one that all university presidents in the United States should be concerned about.

One of the decisions that we made at Minerva University is to not participate in the trend in the United States to turn your college campus into something that looks like a country club. I was an undergraduate student at the College of the Holy Cross. I recently went to a reunion, and I think there were 10 to 12 new buildings on campus.

Oh:There are ways to provide education at a small cost online. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are one example. There are students who go get degrees for high-paying jobs and consider online courses to be useless. However, there are some MOOC courses offered by Google, for instance, that give certificates, and that could be a way to attract students.

━ Mike Magee

Mike Magee is the president of Minerva University. Prior to joining Minerva, he was founding CEO of Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit organization supporting leaders of many of the nation’s largest and most innovative K-12 public education systems. Previously, Magee cofounded and was CEO of Rhode Island Mayoral Academies (RIMA). As CEO of RIMA, he built a statewide network of regionally, racially and economically diverse public schools while advocating for sweeping changes to state education policy. Magee holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s in political science and English from the College of the Holy Cross.

Minerva University was founded in 2012 and named the world's most innovative university this year by World's Universities with Real Impact for the second consecutive year. Although the university is headquartered in San Francisco, all classes are held online, with around 20 students per class. Apart from courses, students spend semesters in seven different cities — San Francisco, London, Hyderabad, Berlin, Seoul, Taipei, and Buenos Aires — and engage in real-world projects. The university has over 600 students from 100 different countries.

━ Oh Se-jung

Oh Se-jung is a former president of Seoul National University. His four-year term as the 27th president of the university began in 2019. Previously, he taught physics at the university from 1984 to 2016 and served as dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the university from 2004 to 2008.

He served as a lawmaker and a member of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communication Committee of the 20th National Assembly from 2016 to 2018. He also served on numerous presidential advisory commissions for science education. Oh received his bachelor’s degree in physics at Seoul National University and Ph.D. in the same field at Stanford University.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]