Published: 26 Aug 2024, 19:58
Yang Hyung-jin
The author is an honorary professor of education at Korea University.
China’s high-tech capabilities are overtaking those of the United States, said a report on the front page of the JoongAng Ilbo on July 8. The scientific journal Nature evaluates research capabilities by analyzing the contribution of research papers published in top-ranking journals. According to the Nature Index, which tracks where papers are published, China overtook the United States for the first time in 2024.
With the exception of Harvard University, which ranked highest, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which ranked 10th, all of the top 10 universities were Chinese institutions. While this may be surprising to the general public, those who have worked in science and technology have likely long sensed the rapid growth of China’s scientific and technological research capabilities in their respective fields.
One should pay close attention to how scientific talent is attracted. This is where the US and China differ significantly. The US attracts scientific talent from abroad with its advanced research environment and abundant capital. In contrast, China produces about 80,000 PhD students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics every year, four times the number of the US. China produces its own talent.
Despite these favorable conditions, the Chinese government is trying to attract foreign talent through its “Thousand People” program. It has even introduced a system that offers outstanding foreign researchers a remuneration of up to 30 times the average annual salary. One can imagine how serious the country is about attracting scientific talent.
And what about Korea? Foreign media have reported that Korea’s successful state-led growth has reached its limits. The reasons cited are the country’s weakness in basic technology innovation, a sharp decline in key world-class technologies, low labor productivity, and a declining working-age population due to the low birth rate. But the real problem is that these are not the only reasons Korea has reached a dead end.
College admission, which determines the direction of secondary education, depends heavily on math skills. For the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), learning and memorizing question types is important. Comprehension, application, imagination, convergence, potential, and creativity are all important skills to develop through education, but they are not the focus on the CSAT because students have to solve many problems in a short period of time.
The first reason the CSAT system has endured for so long despite these limitations is that memorized tests can be a good indicator of other skills. The second reason is that it is easier to ensure fairness with multiple-choice tests. The third reason is that CSAT questions, despite their flaws, are of higher quality than other test questions.
These are all acceptable reasons, but they ignore the real problem we need to overcome. Tests should be there for education, but in our reality, secondary education exists for the CSAT. As a result, we are forced to abandon the duties of education in order to develop various skills. Under these circumstances, how can we expect innovative talents that will drive the future? If we want to train future talents, we need to normalize secondary education and solve the problems in the country’s college admission system.
Another pressing issue is the concentration of excellent students in medical schools. There are many areas we need to focus on in the future, such as the basic sciences including mathematics and physics, the life sciences including medical sciences, and the humanities. And yet it is a tragic reality that among the students with the best CSAT scores last year, 19 out of 20 enrolled in a medicine-related major.
The Pythagorean aesthetic of harmony and balance is still relevant today. No matter how magnificent a single column is, it cannot add beauty to the entire building.
Harmony and balance are important in academia too. Extreme favoritism towards medical schools seriously undermines academia, certainly science, and our entire future. While it is important to train brilliant minds, it is even more important to think about what kind of talent we are training and how their performances interact with each other to achieve breakthroughs.
First of all, we need to ensure that talented people are evenly distributed across disciplines. Who will coordinate this? Citizens’ initiatives cannot do this, and the government cannot force it. Nor can it be achieved by appealing to patriotism and encouraging individuals to make voluntary sacrifices.
The tragedy of the commons from game theory shows that rational decisions made by individuals do not guarantee the well-being of a community as a whole. Even though extreme favoritism towards medical schools may be a rational decision for each individual, it is a tragedy for society as a whole.
It takes 30 to 50 years to see the results of talent development. We can no longer delay attracting high-caliber people to key fields. We need systematic efforts and determination to respect scientists and establish a fair compensation system for a better future. We need to create a system where scientists can enjoy using their talents and contributing to our society throughout their lives.
Translation by the editorial staff of Korea JoongAng Daily.
