The social effects of higher education policy in South Korea : the rise of the "pig Mum" phenomenon
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The contemporary educational system in South Korea is built on high-stakes standardised tests, a manifestation of the national project of social reconstruction and reform. One recent outcome is the emergence of an unfamiliar yet ubiquitous phenomenon: the "pig mum"; a Korean parent who is fully involved in organising, scheduling and managing the educational process from primary to secondary school for a group of children in a neighbourhood. Based on a quasimixed method utilizing a survey of a group of students and parents, this pilot study explores the "pig mum" phenomenon and its linkage to education policy. The authors conclude that the current educational policy fails to achieve the ideals it professes to value. This creates deep and negative societal norms that endanger a growing generation of students by creating a parallel private education market environment where "pig mums" thrive. © 2019 World Association for Triple helix and Future strategy studies. All rights reserved.
Description
This article is licensed under Creative Commons License and full text is openly accessible in CUD Digital Repository. The version of the scholarly record of this article is published in Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia (2019), accessible online through this link https://doi.org/10.17477/jcea.2019.18.1.070.
item.page.type
Article
item.page.format
Keywords
Education policy, Higher education, Pig mum, South Korea
Citation
Lee, E., Calonge, D. S., & Hultberg, P. (2019). The social effects of higher education policy in South Korea: The rise of the “pig Mum” phenomenon. Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, 18(1), 70–93. https://doi.org/10.17477/jcea.2019.18.1.070