The Difficulty for Korean Male Students to Enter Engineering

The content of today's posting is about Korean male students entering fields related to Engineering and Science. We will analyze data to explain the reality of the difficulty faced by Korean male students in pursuing Engineering education.

Why is it so challenging for Korean male students to pursue majors in Engineering and Science?

The National Science Board (NSB) publishes reports related to Engineering and Science. These reports play a crucial role in policy decisions by the U.S. Congress and the President. We will utilize data from the highly reliable NSB report for today's explanation.

The graph below represents the number of Bachelor's degrees awarded in various majors within the United States. The slope of the graph indicates the popularity of each major: an upward slope signifies increased popularity, while a downward slope indicates declining interest.

• Social Science: The topmost line in green represents Social Science, encompassing Non-STEM fields. There has been a slight decrease in popularity since 2013.

• Biological and Agricultural Sciences: The blue line represents this field, including Healthcare, showing a consistent increase in student numbers.

• Psychology: A gradual decline in student numbers has been observed since 2014.

• Engineering: The green line signifies the number of students in Engineering, depicting a continuous upward trend, reflecting its increasing popularity and consequently higher competitiveness.

• Computer Science: The red line represents this field, exhibiting a steep rise in popularity, surpassing even the peak during the dot-com bubble.

• Mathematics and Statistics: This line maintains a steady trajectory at the bottom.

• Blue graph: Engineering

• Red graph: Computer Science

• Solid line: Students with citizenship or permanent residency

• Dotted line: Students on temporary visas

The number of U.S. citizenship/permanent resident students continues to increase.

If you look at the dotted line, you can see that the number of international students continued to increase and then increased steeply in 2012-13.

As President Trump took office in 2017, there were no policies favorable to immigrants, so the numbers fell during that period, and with the pandemic, you can see that the graph is slightly bent.

Now that the pandemic is over, there are many expectations that the number of students will rise again due to an explosion.

The graph displays the recipients of degrees categorized by race. Among Asians, Chinese and Indian students occupy a significant portion.

China and India exhibit overwhelmingly higher numbers among PhD recipients, although a notable number of Korean students also pursue doctoral degrees.

Engineering and Computer Science fields show relatively lower percentages of female students compared to other majors, indicating a potential advantage for female students in these fields.

As per Bachelor's degree statistics, Asians have the lowest representation among female degree recipients.

The graph demonstrates the preference for Engineering, Computer Science, and Social Science among Korean students compared to other countries.

This table shows the top/bottom students by country based on math scores.

The blue bar to the right of the center indicates the number of students in the top 10%.

The red bar on the left represents the number of students in the bottom 10%.

This table shows the number of students in the top/bottom ranks by country in science as well as math. Similarly, based on the center, the right side shows the number of students in the top 10%, and the left side shows the number of students in the bottom 10%. Although science lags behind math, it is still a country with many top-ranking students.

The graph shows a decline in South Korea's mathematics performance from 2003 to 2018, contrasting with China's upward trend.

India and China exhibit consistent growth in immigration applications, while South Korea's applications decreased in 2019.

The total number of students in grades K-12 in the United States is 49.5 million, of which 2.7 million are Korean students.

The chart above shows data showing that the total number of students is 49.5 million, and the number of 11th graders is approximately 200,000. So, we can assume that about 200,000 students across the United States are applying to college (of course, there are students who don't go to college right away or who don't even think about going to college, but I'm excluding those cases).

Estimation for Top 20 US University Admission

Based on an assumption of approximately 200,000 students applying for university, about 20,000 Asian students compete for the Top 20 universities. Hence, Asian students aiming for these universities face intense competition, necessitating ranking within 1600-1800 for favorable admission results.

Conclusion

Korean students entering US universities face stiff competition within the Asian applicant pool, especially with the increasing prowess of Chinese and Indian students. Therefore, Korean male students might find it more challenging to secure admission, particularly in Engineering and Science fields. It's crucial to consider these realities while applying to universities.

These figures and rankings are generalized, and specific circumstances may vary depending on individual schools. If your school situation aligns with the general scenario of Korean students in the US, understanding that one needs to be among the top performers among Korean students to stand a chance in the Top 20 US universities might be insightful.

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