Problems Regarding Unfair Payments

The research environment for KAIST graduate students has been the center of various criticisms for the past decade. This bag of issues was opened up and placed in the spotlight when the results of the recent “2012 KAIST Research Environment Situation Investigation” were released by the Graduate Student Council. The report highlighted various issues that graduate students face in their working and research environment. With the statistical comparison, the KAIST student body heightened the call for reform. From the numerous problems presented, the most concerned issue was the unsatisfactory amount of wages.

Unlike that of undergraduate students, the presence of graduate students at the university is determined by work and research hours. Consequently, graduate students are paid wages for the hours they work in their respective research facilities. This is where the problem lies: the values are far below the national minimum wage. From the survey results, which were contributed by 770 KAIST graduate students last December, the average monthly wage for master’s students was 342,486 Korean Won, while for doctorate students was 734,657 Korean won. This amounts to an average of 565,706 Korean won for graduate students. Compared to the national average wage of the people in the same age group, which is 1,980,000 Korean Won, it is significantly lacking. Furthermore, the work hours of graduate students are nearly 50 percent longer than the national average work hours. Consequently, a graduate student’s hourly wage amounts to 2,353 Korean Won, which is less than the minimum wage of 3,860 Korean Won and far below the national average of 4,860 Korean Won.

The roots of this problem with wages are diverse. One of the issues is that the amount of support for the tuition fees from research funding is limited. Also, the extent of financial support provided varies between KAIST scholarship students, state scholarship students, and normal scholarship students. Another issue that has been brought up by the graduate students is that some professors abused their authority of managing the research funds by allocating a portion of the funds meant for the students to other research areas or private sectors. There is no single definite origin to this problem with wages, but as a result of these issues, some of the students are significantly underpaid.

On the basis that the average wage of a graduate students is 565,706 Korean Won per month, the amount received is insufficient compared to their average spending of 784,000 Korean Won. The spending usually encompasses transportation, food, and residence. To make up for the puncture in living costs, students usually seek other means to earn money. The more common methods are working as a teaching assistant, running tuitions, asking for loans, looking for part-time jobs, and asking for financial support from home. Some of these methods cost a lot of time, which deters graduate students from their primary objective of researching and studying. In addition, from this year, the option of working as a teaching assistant has been ruled out for students who have not graduated yet on time. This adds to the concerns of students who are unable to finish their thesis due to various complications and are short on monetary funds.

Through the survey, students have asked for various reforms. First, KAIST should implement wage systems similar to foreign universities. Wages should be set by the department, not by the professors. This will allow the students to be more independent and free from their professors. Second, wages should be fixed at an appropriate level instead of changing monthly. The fact that the wages may drop the following month poses a great concern for many students. Most importantly, the students hope for the problem of insufficient wages to be resolved soon, so that they can concentrate on their respective research work.

By taking into account this survey and various opinions from students, the KAIST Graduate Student Council is investigating this issue. It wishes to find a solution that will satisfy the university, the faculty, and most importantly, the students.

Stress from Interpersonal Relationships

KAIST graduate students spend the majority of their time in a laboratory environment. As a result, the relationships students have with their advisors and lab mates can have a significant impact on their health and well-being.

According to a survey conducted by The KAIST Times last month, a number of graduate students were reported of being subjected to verbal abuse (16%), violence (1%), and even sexual assault (2%) by their professors or seniors while working in the laboratory. Other injustices students faced included assignment of unreasonable projects and non-research related tasks, forced postponement of graduation, and dishonest academic conduct.

The KAIST Herald conducted brief online interviews with nine graduate school students to obtain first person accounts of the difficulties they have experienced in their relationships with advisors and lab mates.

What difficulties do you experience in your relationship with your advisor or lab mates?
“I am the youngest member of my lab, so it’s difficult for me to voice my opinions. There is this hierarchical culture that exists in the laboratory, and I am at the bottom of the hierarchy due to my age. So I end up being in charge of a lot of things I don’t want to do, mainly tedious jobs such as buying equipment and cleaning.”

“I think the student-advisor relationship is inherently burdensome due to the significant influence a professor can have over his students’ lives. I can’t help but feel uncomfortable when interacting with my advisor, regardless of whether it’s inside or outside the lab, because I know he has absolute power over matters concerning my academic career and future.”

“Some lab mates can be very inconsiderate. They frequently use a machine for far too long, disregarding the fact that there are other people who need to use it too. Also, they sometimes use my equipment without asking and do not even have the courtesy put it back where they found it.”

“If I have different opinions from those of my professor, whether it has to do with my research project or laboratory life, I am always the person who needs to change.”

“Some professors really treat their students like dogs. They often send students on personal errands completely unrelated to research. With my more senior lab mates, I often find some of their actions disagreeable, but I am powerless and unable to say anything. Sometimes I am happy to carry out their requests, but there are also times when I have to force myself to do things I don’t want to due to their superior position.”

“Professors demand a lot from their students, pressuring them to publish papers, carry out projects, and submit reports. In the case of my professor, he makes calls very often, not just to our lab, but also to our individual cell phones to discuss work. I tremble in fear when my cell phone rings during the weekend. I think I might be developing neurosis. This has led to a strained relationship with my professor and a stressful laboratory life.”

“I sometimes feel frustrated because there’s a general assumption that female students cannot take on research projects that may require some physical strength.”

“Socializing with my professor is always uncomfortable. Employees often say that company get-togethers are just part of their job description. Graduate students are no different. Alcohol-related activities and dinners are an extension of our laboratory life. You have to always be careful about what you say and do, which is really stressful. Even if you have an appointment or a busy schedule the next day, you feel obliged to attend.”

Though there were students experiencing stress due to strained relationships in the laboratory, the excerpts can be misleading because most students actually commented that they are normally quite content with their working environment and are fond of the people they work with. Some students even responded that they were perfectly happy with their life in graduate school and had no complaints to make regarding their interpersonal relationships. Overall, the most common causes of stress seemed to be an excessive overlap of professional and private space, and a pressure to adhere to strict formalities due to a very unequal standing between students and their professors or seniors in the lab hierarchy. These problems can only be tackled by empowering the rights of individual students – a task KAIST should focus on in the immediate future.

Graduate Students in Different Universities

The research environment of other private universities is known to be much poorer than that of KAIST. According to an article from Dong-a Ilbo, government funding for engineering schools of private universities is much smaller than that for Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), KAIST, and Seoul National University (SNU). POSTECH receives enormous amount of funding from the government enterprise POSCO. SNU receives 360 billion Korean Won and KAIST receives 180 billion Korean Won per annum. On the other hand, top Korean private universities receive less than 10 billion Korean Won from the government annually. With the worsening economic state, the amount of funding from private firms has decreased significantly.

Some universities went through a similar situation as that of KAIST. According to an article from Yonhap News written on October 10, 2012, the SNU Human Rights Center announced that the human rights of the graduate students from SNU had been significantly violated. The center identified the hierarchical structure of professors and their graduate students, the professor’s power over giving graduate degrees, and one-way communication based on instructions and orders as the main root of causes.

According to a survey conducted by the SNU Human Rights Center, 11.1% of the respondents of the survey answered that they have been given personal job instructions from their professors and were treated like personal secretaries.

The problem regarding wages was shown in SNU as well. One said, “Some professors give only a partial amount of the personnel expenses to their students even if they received more than 10 million Korean Won under the name of their students.”

Furthermore, 8.7% responded that the professors have asked the graduate students to write in their place or have entirely taken their research papers. During the examination of theses, there has even been cases of bribery.

The KAIST Herald interviewed a graduate student from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University to hear more about the current and changed research environment.

What is the average monthly wage for graduate students at SNU?
Master’s degree students normally receive about 800,000 Korean Won and the Ph.D. students receive about 1,200,000 Korean Won on average. Of course, the amount of wage can be different from lab to lab, ranging from 600,000 Korean Won to 1,200,000 Korean Won. One thing to note is that master’s degree students from SNU have to pay tuition fees unlike the KAIST students.

What are the working hours like?
I work from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, the working hours of my lab are considered relatively short compared to that of other engineering labs. For some labs, which are known to have longer working hours, people have to research from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Are you satisfied with your graduate school life in general?
Yes. My professor is young and open-minded. He is accessible, and he is always willing to communicate with his students. He also runs the lab transparently, so the students of his lab know the lab’s current financial situation. Unfortunately, there are still cases where some professors take lab funding and students’ wages.

Are there any last comments or messages?
I think it is time for KAIST to receive more attention and awareness from both the KAIST community and the media on this issue to make constructive changes. I hope that KAIST compares its own research environment with that of other universities objectively and makes positive improvements on the current situations.

After the announcement made by the SNU Human Rights Center and the numerous follow-up media reports on this issue, SNU held a symposium with professors and graduate students to discuss the violation and its possible solutions. The problem regarding the research environment of graduate students varies in different universities. However, essentially, graduate students are vulnerable members of the university structure. The severity of the issue has now been identified. It is time to share the awareness of the issue in the community and take immediate action to solve the problem for a better KAIST.

A Step Up for Resolution

Facing the status quo point blank, one must admit that the study and work environment of graduate students is seriously deteriorating. Minimum wage issues, unpredictable career prospects, general downward trend in the fields of science and engineering, discriminatory financial aid for different departments, and inappropriate works given to graduate students all point at the same thing – a desperate need for a resolution. But who will step up to take care of 5,000 graduate students?

Fortunately, the Graduate Student Council seems to have long been acknowledging the same problems addressed above, though finding a solution has not been easy. Another difficulty at hand is the council’s job to encourage cooperation from various administrative offices, departments, professors, and students.

“Do Learn Do Run” is the official name of the 41st Graduate Student Council led by President Su Yong Choi and Vice President Ju Yeon Ham. On April 1, they have successfully surpassed their opponent Doyeon Kwak, the presidential candidate of “Graduate Life You Really Want to Live/Research You Really Want to Do,” earning some 1829 votes out of the total 5378. Do Learn Do Run will hold office until the day just before the start of the semester in 2014.

From March 25 to 31, during the campaign season, Do Learn Do Run distributed a PDF version of their policy booklets on the school’s online forum ARA. The booklet’s first words emphasized “concern over the difficulties of graduate students, and working towards resolving them.” In line with this emphasis, they set out a number of policies targeting the issues mentioned above. Their policies are centered on two things: welfare/culture and rights/social activities.

On one hand, Do Learn Do Run wants welfare and culture policies that are tailor-made specifically to KAIST graduate students, based on their research on graduate school lifestyle. In addition, they want to improve the condition of the school’s current provision of welfare- and culture-related facilities or programs. Firstly, a research center to study the KAIST graduate school lifestyle is to be developed to get a better understanding of the students’ hardships and hence find possible solutions. Secondly, a number of complementary, stress-relieving programs are on the way for graduate school students, including baseball game visits, weekend culture buses, and exercise programs for laboratories. Thirdly, existing welfare facilities are to be operated for a longer period of time each day; for example, the Online Electric Vehicle bus on campus, according to Do Learn Do Run, is set to run longer and cover a wider area. Fourthly, the council wants to increase accommodation facilities for married students as well as extend support for raising their children. Furthermore, dormitory application issues, KAIST clinic annual health check-ups, and cafeteria quality monitoring are next in line to be developed by the new council.

Do Learn Do Run wants to promote graduate students’ rights and their participation in social activities. Firstly, The council hopes to execute policies on guaranteeing minimum work, study condition, and rights, as well as attracting support for graduate students’ involvement in activities inside and outside campus to improve their research environment. Specifically, Do Learn Do Run wants to actualize the minimum financial aid, establish teaching assistant (TA) and residence assistant (RA) financial support for fourth-year Ph.D. students, and lift the current ban on TA and RA applications for Ph.D. students who have exceeded the standard number of semesters. Secondly, a human rights center for graduate school is to be established to directly support various kinds of difficulties encountered by graduate students and to guarantee confidentiality in raising issues related to human rights. Thirdly, graduates will be encouraged to get involved in activities outside campus by developing student-centered policies and providing better research environment conditions.

The Game After Graduate School

Working for a graduate school degree requires significant investment in time and work as an individual. However, notable publications such as Nature, Science and even The Economist have raised concerns about the worldwide trend of the overabundance of graduate students and Ph.D.’s despite continuous breakthroughs and progress in technology and the sciences. They raise concerns that graduate students may be overqualified for the job market, a disappointment after their arduous acquirement of skills and knowledge during their periods of studies. Nature suggests a solution to move the overflowing supply of graduate students to the industry by recommending graduates to form closer relations with industrially relative fields.

The need for closer relations between corporate industries and the graduate academia is a growing trend in higher education worldwide. The reports mentioned that there is an overabundance of academic research, which industries feel is not suited for the practical industrial field. Recruiters at job fairs comment that in general, corporations are less interested in graduates that have done research noncompliant to the interests of their organizations. Rather, the industrial fields prefer and select graduates who have specialty in their fields and can deliver the right performance.

Indeed, graduate students in KAIST as well share the uncertainty of what lies ahead after finishing their master’s degree and Ph.D. The biggest contribution to this uncertainty is the lack of information to prepare for future plans and find positions after the graduate program. Appropriate strategies and solutions are needed to prepare graduate students and solve this issue.

Keeping an eye on the job market is critical for individuals who aspire for a research career. Visiting recruiting websites such as JobKorea, and Saramin, and Glassdoor gives open comprehensive information on salary, work location, and open positions that match a student’s skills. For students in KAIST, the KAIST Career website not only provides job offers but also shows the general trends in employment. Career portals from other universities such as Pohang University of Science and Technology and Seoul National University can give better information on positions that require higher education degrees, such as those at national institutes and for advanced corporate research.

The future of graduate schools is not as gloomy as the general public thinks. Corporate industry and institutes still actively recruit master’s degree and Ph.D. graduates within KAIST, and employment rates are optimistically high. Ph.D. graduates do earn more at lease than those with a bachelor's degree. A study in the “Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management” shows that individuals with a bachelor's degree earn 14% more than those without. The earnings premium for a Ph.D. graduate is 26%, and premium for a master's degree graduate is just as high, at 23%. According to the studies, the premium for a Ph.D. graduate is actually smaller than that for a master's degree graduate in engineering and technology. Indeed, it seems that higher education does not always guarantee financial benefits.

Those who aspire for more academic and basic research positions must stay optimistic and informed about institutions that can accommodate such skills. National research institutes are less market driven and may provide positions to drive the best of science and technology research. Korea Aerospace Research Institutes, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, and Korea Basic Science Institute are just a few to name.

Although searching and fitting into the job market may be a short-term solution for graduates and individuals, the deep philosophy and rigor behind academic integrity are not forces to be ignored. Graduate students who focus on basic natural sciences or state-of-the-art technology must understand the responsibility as a pioneer on a quest of knowledge. Shortsighted plans can and will hinder grand visions of the future. Researchers and engineers could not have launched the Naro rocket and advancement in information technology could not have been met without graduates from higher educational institutes such as KAIST.

Scholarly integrity is a hard ideal to accomplish, which makes graduate programs at KAIST and any other universities in the world challenging. Individuals conducting challenging research in graduate degree programs must also keep communicating with others on what they are doing. Better research, better information, and better opportunities can be unexpectedly found by exchanging dialogues. Perhaps a Ph.D. candidate in KAIST can give valuable insight on this graduate program issue and emphasize that a Ph.D., which stands for “doctor of philosophy,” contains the word philosophy for a reason.