After the “industry-university cooperation field practice of the first semester of 2022” notice was posted on January 25, a large number of the University of Seoul (UOS) students expressed their discontent on Everytime, the university online community. They pointed out the small size and number of participating companies and the relatively smaller recruitment volume compared to other major universities in Seoul. Most of the participating companies are not where students want to apply, large corporations, global enterprises, and major public corporations do not participate much in the program, and even if such companies are on the list, the recruitment number is too small. Accordingly, six students formally requested a resolution to the problem and the improvement of the field practice program on the bulletin board called “I wish to the university president” on the school website. They received a response from UOS, but it is expected to take a lot of time and effort for a change.
The UOS Times tried to get as much information as possible about the list of companies with which other universities in Seoul operated a field practice program from 2018 to 2022. There were many small- and medium-sized enterprises, but there were also many large corporations, global enterprises, and public institutions where UOS students want to work. For example, K University had LG Display on the list from 2018 to 2021 and POSCO[1] in 2020. S University has Samsung Electronics on the list from 2019 to 2022, BASF[2] Korea in 2022, Korea Energy Agency (KEA) in 2018 and 2021, and POSCO in 2021. H University had KOTRA[3] and KITA[4] on the list from 2018 to 2020. However, except for KOTRA, none of these companies participated in the field practice program of UOS. In the case of KOTRA, it participated in the UOS field practice program from 2018 to 2020, but only recruited one to three students at a time; in contrast, it recruited about 60 students from the field practice program with H university in 2019. As such, the field practice program of UOS has shortcomings compared to those of other major universities, so it is difficult for UOS students to gain work experience related to their major and be competitive.
Field experience is important for university students preparing for employment. It allows them to obtain inside information of companies, such as their work methods and the business promotion directions, and to build relationships with incumbents who can share the information about the job. A lot of university students experience field practice while in college; thus, field practice experience has become necessary in terms of competitiveness. However, if the university does not provide opportunities for field practice, it is difficult for its students to overcome tough competition and obtain opportunities outside the university. Moreover, in many cases, large corporations offer internships only to students at top-ranking universities in Seoul. In this situation, if UOS does not reform its field practice program, not only will UOS students be at a disadvantage in employment but also their competitiveness may decrease.
UOS answered the students’ requests on February 10, “We agree that there is a lack of field practice opportunities. UOS established a field practice support center in September 2020 and has been encouraging companies to participate in its field practice program through continuous public relations. However, there are indeed difficulties in recruiting companies due to company bylaws and related regulations. There are still a lot of shortcomings as the field practice support center was established not long ago, but we will continue to strive to expand the size and quality of the participating companies. We hope the students will look forward to it.”
Although nothing has changed as of now, it is important to note that students have actively expressed their opinions on the field practice program, and the university has recognized the problem and showed the willingness to improve it. Students can check out the status of the field practice program and apply for it on the field practice online system page. The UOS Times hopes that students will continue to speak out on university issues, and UOS will further improve by accepting students’ requests.