The Hurdles to Being World Class: Narrative Analysis of the World-Class University Project in Korea

Abstract

This study examines the Korean Government's policy scheme of setting up the World-Class University (WCU) Project by investigating the perceptions of major actors, including WCU scholars and government officials. In-depth interviews were held with 18 WCU scholars and three government officials. Our findings suggest that the limits of the governmental scheme have marginalized the organizational capacity of the selected departments, and that most of the limits have stemmed from strong institutional pressure on the departments. In institutional environments, such as the governmental guidelines for micro-management, there is a conflict between regulation from the Government and universities. Moreover, harmful political dynamics between the Korean Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology and other audit and finance-related governmental institutions have worked against the selected departments. Common observations throughout the study indicate that the objective of the project is not sufficiently focused on the global definition of the WCUs, and that the strategy and regulation of the project are some way from representing an optimal form of world-class work.