This longitudinal study (2008-2023) of South Korea and Taiwan academia reveals their distinct trajectories in pursuing gender equality. Using official annual faculty data from universities in the QS World University Rankings, the analysis tracks changes in the proportion of female faculty by rank and discipline, while considering university rankings as a key variable.

According to the data, while Taiwan has a higher overall proportion of female professors, South Korea has experienced much more rapid growth. This divergence stems from different policy approaches. Since 2002, South Korea has implemented a “target-driven” strategy with clear numerical goals, such as a 30% gender quota for all departments by 2030. This strong intervention has significantly boosted female representation, especially at the Assistant Professor level and in non-STEM fields. Conversely, Taiwan focuses on a “cultural immersion” model, establishing programs to cultivate female research talent and support gender studies. This aims for foundational cultural change but lacks rigid targets, resulting in slower progress.

The study reconfirms significant “horizontal segregation” in both regions. The proportion of women in non-STEM fields has grown far more rapidly than in STEM fields, with areas like engineering showing near stagnation or even decline, which indicates that academic culture or industry connections in certain fields may pose unique barriers.

Furthermore, the impact of university rankings differs. In South Korea, mid-ranked universities have the highest proportion of women, while top and low-ranked institutions have lower proportions. This suggests top universities’ intense focus on research output and a competitive culture may reinforce male-dominated norms, while lower-ranked ones lack resources for equality policies. In Taiwan, no significant correlation exists between rankings and gender composition, possibly indicating a stronger buffer against global ranking pressures.

The core insight of this study lies in a critical examination of policy effectiveness. It shows that there is no universal solution or perfect gender equality policy. South Korea’s model delivers quick quantitative gains but risks attributing women’s success to gender rather than merit. Taiwan’s approach is more fundamental but proves less effective at driving structural change, particularly in entrenched fields like engineering. This highlights the limitation of generalized policies against deep-seated barriers. The study provides a valuable comparative perspective for understanding academic equality in East Asia context and underscores the need for future qualitative research to explore how policies are interpreted and resisted locally.

Ultimately, true gender equality goes far beyond increasing the proportion of women. It requires a fundamental restructuring of the “rules of the academic game,” incentive mechanisms, and deep-seated biases to create an environment where women’s success is seen as well-deserved, diversity is truly valued, and all scholars—regardless of gender—can truly gain recognition and development based on their contributions.

Written by: ZHOU, Jue

The meeting introduced the topic topic through the real-life context thar women are often assigned roles with lower productivity and confronted with subtle discrimination.The professors mainly analyzed and compared gender inequality between South Korea and Taiwan in academic perspective,targeting the specific women participated in academia and in STEM fields with the increasing focus on university ranking in two countries.It began with the holistic and macroscopic comparison between the two countries,based on the frame of three approaches:fixing the numbers, fixing institutions, and fixing knowledge. After presenting the research question and hypothesis,the professor presented the variables and data in visual charts and models collected from 2008 to 2023.

To sum up,although the difference in gender inequality between South Korea and Taiwan are dramestic,it still shows some similarities.In both countries the overall proportion of hiring women academics is increasingly across time.In STEM fields,growth in female representation is slower in both academia and teaching career, particularly in medical and technology fields,while natural science has surprisingly increased over time.Meanwhile,rankings of the university have no effect on the proportions of women faculty by position.

In terms of difference,Taiwan has a higher proportion of women academics ,while the proportion of women academics increases more drastically in South Korea.Regarding university rankings, results shows that in South Korea, mid-ranking universities had higher female representation than top or lower-ranking ones while in Taiwan rankings had no significant effect.In conclusion,gender equality in the academia is uneven in both countries and not improving in Taiwan especially in STEM fields.Future research will include time-use studies and qualitative interviews to better understand gendered workload distribution and subtle organizational biases.

Written by: SHEN, Linshan

Gender inequality is an important issue in all aspects of society, and it also exists in academia. This research employed longitudinal and quantitative research methods to compare the similarities and differences in the factors influencing gender inequality in academia in South Korea and Taiwan from 2008 to 2023.

Both South Korea and Taiwan have some sorts of Confucious roots of patriarchy, and they have the similar time to enter the academic game. But they take different strategies and policies to promote gender equality in academia. So the research mainly focuses on women’s status in different times, especially the difference in STEM subjects and non-STEM subjects, while also focusing on the affect of ranking.

Professor Kim and Lui illustrated the procedure and the data to show the change and the difference. In conclusion, there can be seen a greater proportion of hiring women academics in both areas, but the proportion of women varies widely across different subjects. Meanwhile, it seems that rankings have little impact on these issues. For the differences, targeted policies in Korean have a more effective impact on gender equality, while Taiwan just takes a generalized approach, and academic capitalism seems to have different effects on the proportion of women faculty in different areas and different rankings of universities.

This lecture inspired me to think about gender inequality issues in more fields. During my undergraduate years, I observed that many top scholars in various subjects were mostly male, but I did not deeply consider the underlying reasons for this, nor the macro background that hindered the promotion of female faculty members or scholars. This research also prompts us to reflect on whether similar gender inequality is widespread in the academic circles of different countries. What common factors and cultural differences exist behind this? Only by deeply understanding these issues can we more specifically overcome the institutional and cultural obstacles that hinder the development of female faculty members in the future.

Written by: ZHOU, Lingrui (Laurel)

We’ve made some progress, but the game is far from fair. Professors Lui and Kim use 15 years of data to reveal where women in academia still face barriers—and why it’s time to rethink the rules.

The seminar, “Gender Inequality in Academia: A Longitudinal Study of South Korea and Taiwan (2008–2023),” by Lake Lui and Lanu Kim, examined how two societies with shared Confucian traditions but different policy strategies have addressed women’s representation in higher education. Using a longitudinal dataset spanning 15 years and applying fixed-effects models, the study analyzed university-level trends in STEM and non-STEM fields, as well as the role of university rankings.

The findings highlighted both progress and persistent inequalities. South Korea’s targeted policies—such as quotas and STEM pipeline programs—proved especially effective for junior faculty and in narrowing the gap between female graduate students and faculty. Taiwan’s broader gender mainstreaming approach showed less impact.

Across both countries, horizontal segregation remains: women’s representation has grown more in non-STEM than in STEM. Within STEM, natural sciences show an upward trend for women, while medicine and technology fields stagnate or even decline. Vertical segregation also persists, with senior academic ranks still dominated by men. Structural constraints were further underscored by a significant negative relationship between the proportion of STEM faculty and women’s representation in Korea—a pattern only evident at the assistant professor level in Taiwan. University rankings showed inconsistent effects: in Korea, both top- and bottom-ranked universities had lower female representation, while in Taiwan rankings had little correlation.

Beyond the data, the seminar emphasized that structural reforms alone are insufficient without shifts in mindset. Quotas and institutional policies can open doors, but cultural norms and perceptions often determine whether women feel fully recognized as capable. As the professors concluded: “We really need new rules in a new game to change the structure. It’s a lot of work—changing institutions, but also mindsets. Including women, too. New rules in a new game will be great.” The challenge ahead is not only to improve existing systems but to reimagine the very game itself.

Written by: LIN, Yang

在這次的講座中，Lake Lui教授和Lanu Kim教授為我們介紹了她們針對臺灣地區和韓國學術界存在的性別不平等問題做出的縱向研究。
基於現有文獻，目前的職場中存在男性化的工作環境、性別刻板印象等問題，並在平等的本質主義（egalitarian essentialism）理論下認為男性與女性在本質上存在差異，把性別問題歸因於“個人選擇”。這導致了在職場環境中，女性薪酬、受聘機會、晉升路徑等向上流動的機會受到限制，生育後的女性受到更多質疑，同時由於分工差異導致女性生產率較低；在不同領域中性別結構不平衡，尤其是在STEM領域女性占比過少；以及在職場性別規範下女性的羞於野心的自我選擇。同時，三種力量正在改變著學術界，包括學校排名機制的影響與學術資本主義的強化、STEM學科的興起與女性受教育程度的提高。
在此背景下，針對臺灣和韓國存在的學術界性別不平等的現象，兩位教授對臺灣和韓國近年來推出的相關促進職場性別平等的政策進行了分析，並決定針對2008-2023年的高校教師就職情況進行研究。
研究結果表明，韓國和臺灣女性教員占比隨著時間推移都在增長，其中非STEM領域的增長更明顯，而在醫學、技術領域則有所停滯甚至降低；同時，針對韓國各職位教員與臺灣助理教授來說，一所大學中STEM學科占比越大，女性教員占比越低；大學排名對各職位女性教員占比沒有影響。
此外，還有一些不同之處，例如韓國針對性的性別平等政策效果好於臺灣籠統的改善策略，其中韓國提高女性教員占比的成效更為顯著，尤其是STEM領域以及初級職位；韓國排名更高或更低的大學中女性教員占比低於中等排名的大學，受到學術資本主義的影響更嚴重，而在臺灣排名對女性教員占比則沒有顯著影響，可能是由於臺灣的大學並不重視世界排名；學術界仍然存在嚴重的性別不平等問題，尤其是在STEM學科領域，這一情況在臺灣卻沒有得到改善。
在未來的研究中，兩位元學者計畫利用時間日誌記錄等方法對學校內的性別分工進一步研究學術界的性別不平等現象。

Written by: YANG, Bijia

學術場域的性別不平等如何表現？臺灣大學呂青湖副教授與韓國科學技術院金蘭友（Lanu Kim）副教授，基於2008—2023年臺灣和韓國高等教育相關資料進行了系統研究。

呂教授首先梳理理論框架。既有文獻指出，工作空間往往以男性為中心構建，性別刻板印象被自然化和本質化，個體自由選擇的論調掩蓋了不平等現實，這些導致了薪資差距、職業隔離與女性自我限制等負面結果。而在學術界，有三大宏觀趨勢正在改變結構：學術排名與資本化影響的提升、STEM學科重要性增加、女性受教育水準提高。但這些趨勢如何影響性別不平等，相關研究仍不足。鑒於此，兩位學者展開縱向研究，並結合政策差異：韓國政府較早以“修正數位”為主要目標，採取多種舉措直接推動了女性比例提升；臺灣的政策則更為分散，在院校資助機制和觀念修正層面均有舉措。研究由此提出三個核心問題：一，韓國和臺灣女性進入學術界的狀況是否改善？二，女性在STEM與非STEM領域的發展差異如何？三，大學排名的日益重要是否影響女性發展？並對應提出細分假設。

實證部分由金教授闡釋。本研究資料均來自兩地政府統計資料，引數涵蓋年份、大學規模、STEM教職員比例、大學排名；因變數為高校各類職級女性比例。教授通過講解散點圖、箱線圖和回歸趨勢線為我們清晰地展現分析過程，結合最終的回歸結果表，該研究得出以下結果：一，韓國與臺灣高校女性學者比例整體隨時間上升，韓國增幅更大；二，STEM比例越高，女性學者比例越低，是最顯著的負向因素；三，大學排名和規模影響不穩定；四，隨職級升高女性比例下降；五，韓國副教授和助理教授增幅高於正教授，臺灣正教授增長突出，其餘比例穩定；六，在非STEM與基礎學科中，女性學者增長與研究生數量正相關，但總體比例下降。

最後，結論和展望部分仍由呂教授講解，完整研究結構。研究結論指出，隨著時間推移，韓國和臺灣高校的女性學者比例均提升，但臺灣僅限正教授層級；非STEM領域女性學者比例增長更顯著，而醫學和工程等STEM領域女性比例停滯甚至下降，僅自然科學有所改善；大學排名對按職位劃分的女性學者比例沒有影響。而兩地差異在於，韓國在整體提升學術界女性比例上更成功，尤其是初級學者和部分STEM學科；韓國頂尖及較低排名大學女性學者比例比中等排名大學低，而臺灣則與排名無關。關於下一步研究方向，呂教授提出需更深入研究男女學者的具體時間分配，結合定性研究理解性別刻板如何在組織規則中體現等影響因素，並拓展更多亞洲國家的資料比較。

這場實證嚴謹的學術分享揭示了學術界性別不平等的複雜樣態。儘管兩地女性學者比例整體有所上升，但亦可知學術界的性別平等之路仍然漫長。正如呂教授結尾時所言：“我們需要新規則、新遊戲以改變不平等的結構。”

Written by: DONG, Yike 

本次講座的主題是2008年到2023年間，韓國和臺灣省學術界中的性別不平等現象。Lake Lui和Lanu Kim兩位元老師通過韓國的資訊披露系統和臺灣省教育部的資料對比追蹤了兩地QS排名高校中女性教職人員的比例。
具體從三個方面介紹了影響兩地高校性別情況的因素。
首先是國家性別政策方面，韓國在2002年就推出了“the Act on Fostering and Supporting Women in Science and Technology”，之後也有一系列政策要求提高高校中的女性教職人數，2020年的“配額制”的強制力大大增加了女性在韓國學術界的占比，而臺灣省則是制定了宣導性政策，支持性別相關的研究，主要依靠高校自願執行。
再者，學術界中存在大量性別刻板印象。如，男性更加理性，具備抽象思維，而女性更具備共情能力。這類觀點潛在地助長了STEM領域幾乎成了男性專屬學術領域的風氣。再加上學校對女性教職員工的生育、家庭問題有所擔心，還讓女性承擔更多如學生心理關照等的非研究性工作，種種原因導致女性學者的待遇不公，缺乏健康的學術環境，由此難以晉升，存在“玻璃天花板”現象。
再加上學術資本主義的影響。學校希望獲得更好的QS排名，以此為據選擇性地投入資金，導致在韓國排名高的和排名低的學校女性教職人數都較少，而排名居中的學校為了保持穩定，女性教職人數更多。對於臺灣省來說QS排名與性別比例無明顯關係。
最終結果是，儘管相比於2008年2023年兩地學術界的女性人數整體都更多，但在STEM領域內部差異顯著，技術工程領域女性比例停滯甚至下降，基礎科學領域仍有提升。韓國的女性助理教授、副教授比例增長顯著，女性正教授比例也有提升，但增速相對較慢；而臺灣省的女性助理教授比例停滯，出現斷層，副教授比例僅略有增長。如有後續的研究，老師們希望可以更加深入地瞭解男女教職在學術和非學術工作上的投入時間，並進行訪談。
這次講座對我啟發最大的地方是關於學術界“配額制”影響的研究，因為我前段時間閱讀《大眾文化的女性主義指南》時，看到作者指出韓國綜藝界的女性工作機會少，呼籲綜藝界也需要“配額制”，我當時認為強制規定女性員工占比是一項不錯的政策。但這次分享的研究裡指出，“配額制”雖然能夠強制改善性別比例，卻也讓男性質疑公平性，讓女性懷疑自我的能力。因此，對於性別平等的推進，不論是強制政策還是宣導政策都有其利弊，還需要我們從根本觀念的變革上去努力，改善性別環境。

Written by: YE, Xinpin

在這次講座中，兩位研究者主要向我們介紹了她們針對2008年至2023年間韓國及台灣學術界性別不平等現象的量化研究成果。通過縱向的曆史數據分析，該研究揭示了女性在學術界各個領域占比的變化趨勢，及其是否受到、如何受到性別平等相關政策的影響。而通過橫向的對比分析，該研究比較了韓國及台灣在學術界性別平等方面變化趨勢的異同，為後續研究更加細緻地考量和探討社會文化、經濟結構等因素的影響提供了思路。
在研究對象的選擇上，兩位研究者兼顧了數據樣本的合理性及可獲得性。一方面，韓國和台灣同屬於廣義的東亞文化圈，其性別秩序均收到儒家傳統的深刻影響。選擇這兩地進行對比，有助於減少文化框架上的差異，從而更清晰的聚焦於具體製度對性別平等的影響。例如，韓國更側重數量上的糾偏，通過立法和具體數值目標來快速提升女性在學術界的比例。而台灣則更偏重製度設計上的糾偏，將性別議題納入研究資助中。另一方面，兩位研究者能更加便利地取得這兩個地區完備詳盡的數據，為開展扎實的量化研究提供了條件。
基於上述背景，兩位研究者提出了兩類假設。第一類為學術界性別比例的變化，研究者從曆史維度、地域維度、學科維度以及職級維度設想了女性佔比的圖景並依次進行驗證。最終，H1a、H1b、H1c三個假設得到驗證，H1d得到部分驗證。第二類為大學排名與女性學者比例的關係，研究者提出了幾種互斥的假設，即大學排名與女性學者比例呈正相關關係、無相關關係或負相關關係。研究結果表明大學排名與女性比例沒有顯著影響。
講座最後，兩位研究者提出了對未來研究的展望。即可以通過進一步細分學科，來探討STEM學科內部的差異。另外，也可以將研究范圍擴大到香港、新加坡、日本等地，使研究更具解釋力。

Written by: LIU, Huiwen