Graduate School

For practical reasons I don't think many young Koreans are going to grad school. Those who do go are more likely to be those who can't find a job with their B.A. Actually I've met more young women than men going to graduate school, but in Korea it's harder for women to find good jobs than men. So it's funny that because of not finding a job they chose to go to graduate school. I don't know for sure but I'd be willing to bet at this time there are more women in the 20s and 30s with grad degrees than men.

A lot of young men don't actually graduate with their first degree until their late 20s. After that most of them want to work. A good job is preferable to graduate school as far as I can see in Korea. Education is important in Korea mostly for practical reasons, not for it's own sake.

I read somewhere once that Koreans have more Ph.Ds than anyone else. However there was nothing to back up that statement. Does that include Koreans in other countries like the USA or just those in Korea? Honestly if I think about some of the university students I know, I can guess that if they ever told their parents they wanted to enter a doctoral program, their parents would say something like, don't do anything crazy like that. Get a job. Get married. Most Koreans I've known have not had more than a B.A. Those with graduate degrees that I've met have been professors, doctors and the like.