Job miss matching for PhD-only job because it turns downward from 2030
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Although the number of college students is gradually decreasing due to low-income students, analysis labs at graduate faculties in science and engineering are fairly crowded. Last yr, the number of graduate students in science and engineering in Korea exceeded 100,000 for the first time in historical past. However, it has been identified that it is pressing to transfer away from the coverage of merely growing the number of heads because it approaches the inhabitants cliff and to make a qualitative transformation that connects them to high quality jobs.
In the lately revealed “Science and Technology Policy Brief No. 60” by the Institute for Science and Technology Policy (STEPI), the dimension of graduate students in science and know-how was analyzed and new prospects and coverage instructions have been offered.
According to the report, the number of graduate students in science and engineering at normal graduate faculties in Korea elevated from 87,642 in 2021 to 101,293 in 2025, an annual common enhance of 3.7% over the previous 5 years. In explicit, the number of grasp’s students in science and engineering declined by an annual common of 1.3% from 2016 to 2020 after which elevated by 4.9% over the previous 5 years, main to the general enlargement. On the different hand, the number of undergraduate students in science and engineering has fallen under 900,000 since 2024, hit straight by the decline in the school-age inhabitants.
Complex elements performed a job in the background of the progress of the number of graduate students in science and engineering alone. The essential driving pressure is the enlargement of nationwide analysis and growth (R&D) analysis funds by universities which have continued since the early 2000s and the institution of new initiatives to assist graduate students in science and engineering. On prime of that, as the relative employment issue of non-technical fields intensified, the demand for admission to science and engineering graduate faculty was concentrated, and the number of international students elevated from 8,617 in 2021 to 9,493 in 2025 additionally contributed to the enhance in the dimension.
However, the enlargement is not anticipated to final lengthy. According to STEPI’s evaluation reflecting inhabitants traits, the enlargement of the dimension of graduate students in science and engineering continued for the time being, delaying the timing of the decline than anticipated, however a long-term decline is inevitable. The number of grasp’s students is anticipated to decline in 2027, and the number of doctoral students is anticipated to shrink to 60% of the present degree by 2050.
Based on these figures, the researchers identified {that a} main surgical procedure of the nationwide expertise coverage is wanted. Lee Hye-sun, a STEPI researcher, stated, “The recent increase in graduate students in science and engineering is centered on master’s degree, which could lead to a mismatch with the demand for key doctoral talents,” including, “If the supply increases without fundamental improvement in the job structure, the employment difficulty could intensify.”
“Considering the decline in the population, it is difficult to postpone restructuring of non-competitive marginal universities anymore as the number of students is expected to decrease again around 2030, he said. “We want to shift our expertise coverage, which has targeted on how a lot it produces, to focus our capabilities on how the produced expertise is used and leads to high quality jobs.”