Publish (in international indexed journals) or perish: Neoliberal ideology in a Korean university

Abstract

Since the 1990s, universities in South Korea have participated in an aggressive movement to globalize their institutions through the medium of English by hiring English-proficient faculty. To attain tenure, faculty must publish in international indexed journals (IIJs), which results in a de facto language policy of publishing in English because most IIJs require English. Requiring faculty to publish in IIJs yields consequences on several levels. For professors, who may or may not be proficient in English academic writing, they must find time to handle teaching and administrative responsibilities, in addition to navigating academic publishing within a limited time period. This policy also serves larger agendas, notably to boost a university's international ranking. In this paper, we examine the publishing requirements at one of South Korea's leading universities. We approach language policy through a critique of neoliberalism to uncover how these requirements are interpreted at this university. Based on analyses of university policy documents and interviews with faculty, our research demonstrates that in this climate of heightened competition, publishing in English is sustained by monetary incentives as it is instrumental in elevating a university's status as a reputable center of knowledge production. These findings further perpetuate the neoliberal viewpoint that the continual upgrading of oneself and, in turn, the university, will be rewarded, while negating the value of one's publications in languages other than English, including Korean.