Page 53 - EW March 2025

or ‘visibly foreign’ backgrounds, about experiences of dis-
crimination or xenophobia in daily life. When discussions
around migration become more restrictive or polarising,
it can create uncertainty for international students about
their place in German society.”
Student visa issuance is one area in which the federal
government has direct control over universities. Most edu-
cation policies are determined at the level of its 16 states,
known in German as Lander, but the federal government
also has other important powers, Keller believes. “It can
participate in funding; it can attach conditions to funding;
it has legislative competence for education funding and for
employment law.”
The AfD certainly has a motive to exercise those powers,
should it ever acquire them. Its manifesto rails against “the South Korean medical students: top choice
increasing influence of ‘woke’ ideology on universities,” and
its leader Alice Weidel has pledged to close gender studies Medical school seats are coveted in South Korea, with
faculties and to fire professors despite the enshrining of a career as a doctor seen as lucrative and stable. “Tradi-
freedom of research as a constitutional right. tionally, getting into medical school has always been a top
The Greens, SPD, CDU/CSU and FDP have all empha- choice for the highest-achieving students,” says Chang Kim,
sised the importance of basic research in their election assistant professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
campaigns, while the Left has called for “basic funding for and vice president of the Korean Association of Human Re-
universities” to reduce “dependence on third-party fund- source Development. “In a society that increasingly values
ing”. Both the Greens and the CDU/CSU have promised to job security, the option of medical school has become an
invest 3.5 percent (or “significantly more”, in the Greens’ even more attractive ‘safe bet’. It’s a guaranteed path.”
case) of Germany’s gross domestic product in research and While expansion of medical school capacity could be a
development, a pledge Ziegele describes as “important”. key factor exacerbating disinterest in STEM studies, it is far
But if the AfD acquires any power or influence, it will from the only one. Unclear career pathways and perceived
seek to make good on its rhetoric attacking “ideologised instability are deterring factors. Between 2015-20, the em-
climate research, gender research and pandemic research”. ployment rate among male STEM graduates fell from 70.2
And Emmi Kraft, who sits on the board of directors at Ger- percent to 64.7 percent, and for women, from 64.1 percent
many’s main national student body, FZS says many aca- to 58.1 percent.
demics are “very afraid and concerned” by the prospect. Similarly, while still relatively high, R&D spending has
fallen in South Korea, hurting Ph D students and early ca-
SOUTH KOREA reer academics whose stipends have been reduced. At the
Waning STEM interest same time, there are widespread reports of poor working
conditions and long hours in research environments. “The
MORE SOUTH KOREAN STUDENTS ARE opt- perception — whether accurate or not — that research op-
ing for medical studies over science, technology, portunities and working conditions in some STEM fields
engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, are less than ideal makes these traditionally demanding
threatening the country’s position as a science superpower. academic routes seem less appealing,” says Kim.
The number of applicants to Korea’s science and technology The trend is adding to concerns about the future of South
institutes — which include the Korea Advanced Institute Korea’s research ecosystem, given the demographic decline
of Science and Technology, one of the world’s top-ranked confronting the country. In recent years, the government
universities — fell 28 percent for the academic year 2025, has introduced a number of policies to attract international
according to a private tutoring company. At the same time, scientists in an attempt to counteract the impact of its age-
the number of applications to the country’s medical schools ing population, but the country faces stiff competition from
rose by 29 percent, says a Jongno Academy report. neighbours China and Japan. “If our brightest minds are
The shift follows a decision to increase the number of turning away from STEM fields, we’re inevitably going to
seats in Korea’s 39 medical schools, which are expected to see a decline in the quality of our research talent pool,” says
admit 4,610 students this year, an increase of 1,497 from Kim. “And that’s very likely to translate into a weakening
last year. The policy was introduced by the government in of South Korea’s overall competitiveness in science and
a bid to combat the shortage of doctors in the country but, technology.”
when first discussed, invoked a long series of protests and (Excerpted and adapted from The Economist and Times
strikes from the heavily unionised medical profession. Higher Education)

MARCH 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 53