Dongduk Women’s University, the site of collective action by students opposing the conversion to co-educational schools and undemocratic academic management, will convert to co-educational schools starting in 2029. In a survey conducted by the Engineering Transition Public Discussion Committee, it was decided to push ahead with the engineering transition even though 7 out of 10 students expressed opposition. Students unanimously voiced condemnation, saying, “A university that treats students like puppets has no value as an educational institution.”
Kim Myeong-ae, president of Dongduk Women’s University, posted a statement on the school’s website on the 3rd and said, “Our university received the final recommendation from the Engineering Transition Public Discussion Committee on the 2nd, and we intend to respect and accept the results.” The day before, the Engineering Conversion Public Discussion Committee recommended Dongduk Women’s University to pursue engineering conversion based on discussions conducted with university members since last June.
President Kim said, “This recommendation was prepared through deliberation and discussion with the participation of various members, including professors, students, employees, and alumni, and is a joint judgment and responsible conclusion regarding the future direction of the university.”
He continued, “The university is taking seriously the fact that although there were more opinions in favor of switching to engineering during the public discussion process, opposition and concerns still exist among current students.” He added, “By planning the implementation of the switching to engineering in 2029, when current students graduate, we will ensure as much as possible the academic environment as a women’s university that you expected at the time of admission.”
President Kim explained that there were more opinions in favor of switching to engineering among school members, but the majority opinion of students, who made up the absolute majority of members, was ‘maintaining a women’s university.’ According to the results of the discussion released by the Public Deliberation Committee the previous day, 2,059 students (71.3%, based on final survey) expressed an opinion in maintaining the women’s college in an online survey. Considering that the total number of members who participated in the survey was 3,176 (2,889 students, 163 faculty, and 124 employees), at least 2 out of 3 respondents expressed the opinion that women’s universities should remain.
In the town hall meeting with the second largest number of participants following the online survey, 66% (128 students) expressed the opinion of maintaining the women’s college, and even in the deliberation body with the smallest number of participants, half of the students (5 people) expressed the opinion of maintaining the women’s college.
However, the public deliberation committee announced that the opinion of ‘conversion to engineering’ was higher than ‘maintaining a women’s university’ in all stages of public deliberation, including deliberation body discussions, town hall meetings, and online surveys. By applying the same weight to each unit regardless of the number of members, the voices of faculty and alumni who have many opinions on switching to engineering were reflected to a greater extent.
According to the survey results announced by the Public Opinion Committee after adjusting the proportion of each unit, the retention rate in women’s colleges was 33.2%, which was only half of the rate before the proportion adjustment. On the other hand, conversion to engineering was recorded at 51.8%, significantly ahead of maintaining women’s college, and the results of the town hall meeting also showed that the opinion of switching to engineering was 57.1% and the opinion of maintaining women’s college was 25.2%, which was significantly different before and after the proportion adjustment.
https://n.news.naver.com/article/comment/002/0002417247