Following the first diversity dialogue on March 29, the second dialogue happened under the title "Research in Graduate School: A Delightful Concerto by Professors and Students." About 60 students, faculty, researchers, and staff member attended the diversity dialogue held in the International Conference Room on the third floor of Shinyang Humanities Hall from 12:00 to 1:30 on April 24, 2019, to discuss the characteristics of SNU’s graduate school culture. Professor Kim Seong-Keun, served as the dean in the College of Natural Sciences for four years from 2014 to 2018. Based on sharing about the experiences he had in the U.S. studying for his master’s and doctoral degree and the long career he had in the Department of Chemistry at SNU, Professor Kim discussed the current problems and direction for improvements especially regarding SNU’s graduate school culture in science and engineering.  

Professor Kim Seong-Keun, as he started his talk, stressed that his talk will not be a lecture but a discussion. He briefly introduced the changes and specialization universities have experienced over the years, and shared some jokes that graduate students in any society can empathize with (e.g., http://phdcomics.com or Simpson cartoons). This created laughter and empathy among the audience. In addition, he claimed that the nature of graduate school is in between a family and a company. That is, it allows for nurturing and tolerance, but at the same time, it expects competition and achievement. He then pointed out as problems of the graduate school at SNU, or perhaps Korean graduate schools in general: the lack of pure academic pursuits; the absence of heated discussions; the adherence to hierarchy, bureaucracy, and school politics; and the phenomena of professors working for money and students being overly dependent. The title of the talk included the word "concerto" instead of "ensemble" because Professor Kim believes that graduate school experience should be like a concerto, and not an ensemble. As opposed to the conductor holding a significant role in an ensemble, in a concerto, although it is a competitive relationship--the word concerto comes from the word concertare, which means competition--members respectively stand out in their roles at certain points. Finally, he compared two different types of models that graduate schools pursue: a research achievement-centered model and a researcher-centered model. 

After Professor Kim gave a 30-minute presentation, an hour-long conversation with the audience followed. Questions were largely about the direction graduate schools should take in terms of improving their culture and system, differences in the graduate school culture compared to foreign universities, restoration of community spirit, etc. Suggestions for raising academic pursuit were also made. Other questions and answers included: graduate schools having characteristics of a closed group based on professionalism and how they are not free from Korean traditional values that emphasize seniority based on age; the need for universities to give out a clear message that people’s personalities and human rights should be respected and that the role of the Diversity Council is important; the need to forge rational relationships in academia between professors and students and also amongst students; the need for regular communication, for example through appointments, between professors and students; the need to properly situate graduate students who hold dual identities of an educatee and a worker; the need to simplify administrative processes in research so that graduate students do not have to spend too much time on taking care of administrative work; and the need to hinder professors from holding absolute power over graduate students’ future.

Diversity Dialogue Series 2: Research in Graduate School: A Delightful Concerto by Professors and Students [Link]