Advertisement

Higher Education Policy

, Volume 28, Issue 4, pp 495–515 | Cite as

Higher Education Research as a Field of Study in South Korea: Inward but Starting to Look Outward

  • Jisun Jung
Article
First Online:

Abstract

This study aims to explore the development of higher education research in South Korea based on historical and scientometric perspectives. After the evolution of the country’s higher education research community is presented, articles focusing on higher education from 1995 to 2012 are analysed. In total, 145 articles in international journals and 1,385 articles in national journals are collected and the publication patterns are compared in terms of research themes, methods and level of analysis between national and international journals. The results show that higher education research in South Korea still tends to focus on a limited set of research topics and research approaches despite the recent growth in research volumes and interests. In addition, there is still a lack of engagement in the international academic community. This study suggests that higher education research in the country needs to be more diversified with regard to research themes and methodologies, and it also needs to have an outward perspective with active engagement in the international academic community.

Keywords

higher education research publication research theme research method level of analysis South Korea 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Altbach, P.G., Bozeman, L.A., Janashia, N. and Rumbley, L.E. (eds.) (2006) Higher Education: A Worldwide Inventory of Centers and Programs, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.Google Scholar
  2. Arimoto, A. (2000) ‘Recent Developments of Higher Education Research and Higher Education Policy in Japan’, in I.S. Schwarz and U. Teichler (eds.) The Institutional Basis of Higher Education Research: Experiences and Perspectives, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 93–106.Google Scholar
  3. Bayer, A.E. (1983) ‘Multi-method strategies for defining “core” higher education journals’, The Review of Higher Education 6 (2): 103–113.Google Scholar
  4. Blackwell, R. and Blackmore, P. (eds.) (2003) Towards Strategic Staff Development in Higher Education, Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
  5. Byun, K.Y. (2009) ‘An exploratory study on the characteristics and knowledge base of the study of higher education’, The Journal of Research in Education 33, 147–176, in Korean.Google Scholar
  6. Byun, K.Y., Lee, S.Y. and Kim, S.H. (2010) ‘Trends of higher education policy studies in Korea: Research topics and characteristics of researchers’, Asian Journal of Education 11 (1): 121–145, in Korean.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Byun, K. and Ka, S.H. (2012) ‘Critical reflections on higher education administration research in Korea: An analysis of research topic, method, and researcher’, The Korean Journal of Educational Administration 30 (1): 135–160, in Korean.Google Scholar
  8. Chen, S. and Hu, L. (2012) ‘Higher education research as a field in China: Its formation and current landscape’, Higher Education Research and Development 31 (5): 655–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Clark, B. (1996) ‘Substantive growth and innovative organization: New categories for higher education research’, Higher Education 32 (4): 417–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Clegg, S. (2012) ‘Conceptualising higher education research and/or academic development as “fields”: A critical analysis’, Higher Education Research and Development 31 (5): 667–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Hayden, M. and Parry, S. (1997) ‘Research on Higher Education in Australia and New Zealand’, in J. Sadlak and P. Altbach (eds.) Higher Education Research at the Turn of the Century: Structures, Issues and Trends, New York: Garland, pp. 163–188.Google Scholar
  12. Hofstetter, R. (2012) ‘Educational sciences: Evolutions of a pluridisciplinary discipline at the crossroads of other disciplinary and professional fields (20th century)’, British Journal of Educational Studies 60 (4): 317–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Horta, H. and Jung, J. (2014) ‘Higher education research in Asia: An archipelago, two continents or merely atomization?’ Higher Education 68 (1): 117–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Huisman, J. (2008) ‘The evolution of a journal: Twenty years of higher education policy’, Higher Education Policy 21 (2): 265–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Hutchinson, S.R. and Lovell, C.D. (2004) ‘A review of methodological characteristics of research published in key journals in higher education: implications for graduate research training’, Research in Higher Education 45 (4): 383–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Jones, G.A. (2000) ‘Higher Education Research and Policy in Canada’, in U. Teichler and J. Sadlak (eds.) Higher Education Research: Its Relationship to Policy and Practice, Oxford: IAU, pp. 71–80.Google Scholar
  17. Jones, G.A. (2012) ‘Reflections on the evolution of higher education as a field of study in Canada’, Higher Education Research and Development 31 (5): 711–722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Jung, J. (2012) ‘International research collaboration among academics in China and South Korea’, International Journal of Chinese Education 1 (2): 235–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Jung, J. and Horta, H. (2013) ‘Higher education research in Asia: A publication and co-publication analysis’, Higher Education Quarterly 67 (4): 398–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Kim, A.N. (2005) ‘Globalization and higher education reform: Responses and conflicts of universities’, The Journal of Politics on Education 12 (1): 85–109, in Korean.Google Scholar
  21. Kim, K.T., Sohn, B.L. and Lee, S.Y. (2010) ‘An analysis and reflection of higher education research published in “The Journal of Educational Administration”’, The Korean Journal of Educational Administration 28 (3): 181–204, in Korean.Google Scholar
  22. Kwan, B.S.C. (2013) ‘Facilitating novice researchers in project publishing during the doctoral years and beyond: A Hong Kong-based study’, Studies in Higher Education 38 (2): 207–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Lee, S. (1989) ‘The emergence of the modern university in Korea’, Higher Education 18 (1): 87–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Macfarlane, B. and Grant, B. (2012) ‘The growth of higher education studies: From forerunners to pathtakers’, Higher Education Research and Development 31 (5): 621–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Marginson, S. (2011) ‘Higher education in East Asia and Singapore: Rise of the Confucian model’, Higher Education 61 (5): 587–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Ministry of Education (2010) National Educational Statistics, Ministry of Education, South Korea, http://english.moe.go.kr/web/1734/site/contents/en/en_0228.jsp.
  27. Moore, K.M. (1989) ‘A revealing chart for the future: Reflections on higher education research’, The Review of Higher Education 13 (1): 128–136.Google Scholar
  28. Morley, L. (2003) Quality and Power in Higher Education, Berkshire: Society for Research into Higher Education, Open University.Google Scholar
  29. Rumbley, L.E., Altbach, P.G., Stanfield, D.A., Shimmi, Y., Gayardon, A. and Chan, R.Y. (2014) Higher Education: A Worldwide Inventory of Research Centers, Academic Programs, and Journals and Publications, Boston: Center for International Higher Education, Boston College.Google Scholar
  30. Sadlak, J. and Altbach, P. (eds.) (1997) Higher Education Research at the Turn of the Century: Structures, Issues and Trends, New York: Garland.Google Scholar
  31. Schwarz, S. and Teichler, U. (eds.) (2000) ‘Introduction: Comparing the Institutional Basis of Higher Education Research’, in The Institutional Basis of Higher Education Research: Experiences and Perspectives, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 1–9.Google Scholar
  32. Scott, P. (1995) The Meanings of Mass Higher Education, Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
  33. Shin, J.C., Jung, J., Kim, Y.S. and Park, E.K. (2008) ‘Trends of higher education research topic analysis’, The Journal of Korean Education 35 (3): 167–193, in Korean.Google Scholar
  34. Shin, J.C. (2011) ‘Higher education development in Korea: Western university ideas, Confucian tradition, and economic development’, Higher Education 64 (1): 59–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Teichler, U. (1996) ‘Comparative higher education: Potentials and limits’, Higher Education 32 (4): 431–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Tight, M. (2003) Researching Higher Education, Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
  37. Tight, M. (ed.) (2004) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Higher Education, London: RoutledgeFalmer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Tight, M. (2007) ‘Bridging the divide: A comparative analysis of articles in higher education journals published inside and outside North America’, Higher Education 53 (2): 235–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Tight, M. (2011) ‘Eleven years of studies in higher education’, Studies in Higher Education 36 (1): 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Tight, M. (2012) Research in Higher Education, Berkshire: Open University Press.Google Scholar
  41. Volkwein, F., Carbone, D. and Volkwein, E. (1988) ‘Research in higher education: Fifteen years of scholarship’, Research in Higher Education 28 (3): 271–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. World Bank (2000) Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise. The task force on higher education and society, Washington DC: World Bank.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© International Association of Universities 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jisun Jung
    • 1
  1. 1.Division of PolicyAdministration & Social Sciences Education, The University of Hong KongPokfulam, Hong Kong SARChina

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options