Navigating Between Mission and Competitiveness: Catholic Higher Education in Korea

Abstract

This study examines the evolution and current challenges of Catholic Higher Education (CHE) in South Korea within the context of globalization and neoliberal educational reform. It explores how Korean Catholic universities balance their distinctive mission with intensifying pressures for competitiveness, external validation, and adaptation to secular academic norms. Drawing on P. Boudieu’s field theory and H. Richard Niebuhr’s typology of Christian responses to culture, the analysis frames the ways institutions of Korean CHE navigate the sometimes contrary currents of their institutional aims—simultaneously striving for academic excellence and maintaining Catholic identity. Case studies of three major Korean Catholic universities illustrate how leadership and curricular programs reflect the ongoing negotiation between mission-driven imperatives and market demands. The paper contends that living within this tension is not a sign of deficiency. It can actually be a source of resilience and innovation. The Korean experience of CHE offers insights for Catholic universities facing similar dilemmas globally, suggesting that engaging proactively with the seemingly contrary paradoxical demands can sustain the integrity of mission while fostering adaptive capacity amid the rapidly changing landscape of higher education.

1. Introduction

This study investigates the evolution of Catholic Higher Education (CHE) in South Korea (hereafter, Korea) as its Catholic universities balance their mission with intensifying pressures for competitiveness, external validation, and adaptation to secular academic norms stressed in the context of pressures from globalization and the government’s neoliberal reforms. In recent decades, Korean universities have become increasingly fixated on their national and global rankings1 within a highly competitive and market-driven educational landscape. Catholic universities, despite their distinctive mission and identity, are not exempt from these pressures. In this environment, professors, students, and even universities as institutions tend to operate as “achievement subjects” (Han 2015, 2024) driven by performance, visibility, and hyper-productivity. This dynamic raises critical questions about the raison d’être of Korean CHE. In line with the idea of disruption and encounter discussed by Froehle and Faggioli’s (2024),2 this paper explores how the Korean CHE carries out its distinct mission while navigating the pressures of market logic3 and global competitiveness.

Korea’s compressed modernization4, rapid economic development, and the unique trajectory of the Korean Catholic Church provide the backdrop for this discussion. Rising from poverty after Japanese colonialism (1910–1945) and the Korean War (1950–1953), Korea emerged as an advanced nation symbolized by semiconductors, automobiles, and K-pop. For its part, the Korean Catholic Church transitioned from a marginal, sect-like religion introduced into Korea in the late 18th century to a mainstream religion by the late 20th century that has contributed significantly to democratization and social movements for human rights. Unlike CHE in Europe and Latin America, where the Church historically held a dominant cultural and institutional influence, Korean CHE developed within a postcolonial, non-Western society shaped by compressed modernization and globalization. This study seeks to offer insights into the challenges facing Korean CHE, while also addressing dilemmas confronting Catholic universities worldwide—a field that remains under-researched5—as they likewise navigate secularization and market logic, as well as declining ecclesial influence.

Despite its rich historical and social context, research on CHE in Korea remains scarce, particularly within the global context. The present study seeks to address this gap by providing a preliminary analysis of Korean CHE’s historical evolution and contemporary challenges. The paper asks fundamental questions: How have globalization and neo-liberal reform changed Catholic universities, and how do they carry out their mission in response? It contends that, rather than resolving the seemingly paradoxical tension between Catholic mission and secular competitiveness, Korean Catholic universities have developed a two-pronged stance that enables both creative adaptability to external demands and preservation of mission.

The paper first presents previous research and its method, followed by a historical examination of how Korean CHE has arrived at its current state. It then analyzes the tensions currently faced by Korean CHE and conducts a preliminary assessment. Finally, it concludes by reflecting on the implications of Korean CHE for global Catholicism.

2. Literature Review and Methodology

2.1. Literature Review

This study draws on two key bodies of research: that on higher education (HE) under the pressures of globalization and that of the academic focus of CHE in Korea and the United States (US). This study does not make a comparison between the two. The inclusion of CHE in US is pertinent due to its depth and institutional scale and the historical and structural interconnections between Korean and American modes of education.

2.1.1. Higher Education in Korea

The origins of HE in Korea date back to the late Joseon Dynasty. However, the development of HE following Korea’s modernization can be divided into two periods: the era of state-led modernization (1960s–early 1990s) and that of globalization (mid-1990s onward). During the first period, the government regulated university education as part of its national development agenda, looking upon universities as instruments for cultivating a highly educated workforce to drive economic growth. In the second period, market logic increasingly permeated HE amid compressed modernization, prompting universities to adapt to the global arena. This shift has eroded the traditional foundations of the university (Shon 2014; M.-H. Kim 2015b; J.-I. Kim 2017; Park 2017; M.-J. Kim 2019; Kim and Min 2021).

Critical perspectives on these transformations describe twenty-first century Korean universities as institutions captured by the state and the market. University innovation as promoted by government policy is often reduced to prioritizing profitable, utilitarian disciplines. Such tendencies have driven the humanities—once the very origin of the university—into a state of crisis. Demographic decline and regional disparities further exacerbate competition, particularly among private and provincial universities in Korea, many of which now struggle for survival. However, such studies rarely differentiate between public universities, private institutions, and religion-affiliated universities. Assuming that all universities are converging toward similar organizational forms under neoliberal globalization, they tend to treat religion-affiliated universities as peripheral (cf. Chirikov 2016). The literature largely neglects the unique trajectories and adaptive strategies of CHE and other faith-based institutions.

2.1.2. Catholic Higher Education in Korea: Research Gaps and Emerging Themes

Research on CHE in Korea is also still at a preliminary stage. Most Korean studies in this field have focused on the introduction of classical texts central to Catholic education, such as Pope John Paul II’s Ex Corde Ecclesiae (Pope John Paul II 1990) or John Newman’s Ideal of a University (John Newman 1996) (Choi et al. 2008; Choi 2011, 2016; J.-J. Lee 2016), or on the theme of character education (Im 2020; Son and Chi 2013). Such works highlight the role of CHE in fostering moral and personal development, often as a corrective to the exam-centric and competitive ethos of Korean secondary education. Catholic universities are noted for their traditional emphasis on value formation, pastoral care, and global immersion programs. However, emphasis on character formation risks conveying the impression that “character” is something separate from intellect—some sort of special spiritual, moral, or socio-ethical quality—thereby reinforcing a dichotomy between character and intelligence that leads to a false dichotomy of the whole person versus the intellect (Hong 2002). Such a framework lends itself to a dualistic model of education that is problematic. Research on CHE in Korea thus remains limited. It is still in its early stages, with few studies dealing with the intersection of CHE with broader discussions of higher education.

2.1.3. Catholic Higher Education in the United States

The experience of CHE in Korea can be illuminated by comparison with the US, where debates over Catholic identity, academic autonomy, and market adaptation have been central since the late twentieth century (Marsden 1994; Burtchaell 1998; Gallin 2000; Mixon et al. 2004; Garrett 2006; Dosen 2009; Mahoney [1996] 2020; Faggioli 2024). During the 1960s, amid the societal upheaval marked by the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war protests, major Catholic universities in the US began reorienting their missions under the influence of Vatican II. This is clearly expressed in the Land O’Lakes Statement (1967)6. This era also saw declining religious vocations and a rise in non-Catholic faculty, prompting debates about the future of Catholic identity in CHE. Scholars have compared this shift to the earlier secularization of Protestant-affiliated universities, such as those in the Ivy League, which had gradually decoupled denominational ties by the early 20th century (Burtchaell 1998; Marsden 1994; Mixon et al. 2004; Mahoney [1996] 2020).

However, key institutional and epistemological differences exist between Protestant and Catholic institutions. The latter are structurally and institutionally more integrated with the Church than their Protestant counterparts and so maintain a stronger sense of ecclesial identity (Marsden 1994; Gleason 1995; Roberts and Turner 2021). Both Catholic and Protestant institutions have experienced influences from general perceptions of the relationship between science and religion that have shifted over the twentieth century. Early in the century, science was widely viewed as epistemologically superior, with religion cast as unscientific or anti-scientific. This dominance eroded over time, as developments in the philosophy of science and sociology of knowledge (e.g., Kuhn 1962; Feyerabend 1975) challenged the objectivity of science. With their stronger sense of ecclesial identity, thus, Catholic universities are expected to be diverged from their Protestant counterparts’ secularization.

Whereas the above discussion mirrors concerns of the previous century, Faggioli has pointed to a new concern, the politics of knowledge production. In his view, the real challenge for CHE and any educational institutions under religious auspices today is the pervasive influence of market logic and the narrowing of the university’s mission to the serving of economic interests. He states:

Corporatization of the university, threats to academic freedom, the disappearance of tenure-track positions, and reliance on (if not exploitation of) an adjunct workforce are more worrisome <…> The reshaping of the university is well within the reach of the wealthy and the politicians who shape universities through political power and the lavishing of money.

(Faggioli 2024, p. 81)

The real staring point, he argues, should be to see “where leaders in American Catholic higher education really stand on the increasing marketization and politicization of knowledge …” (Faggioli 2024, p. 82). Korean Catholic universities face similar pressures and so have similar concerns. In Korea, where inter-university ranking competition is intense and most universities lack financial stability, the state wields support funds as tools not only for “university innovation” but also for disciplining higher education. Under such conditions, marketability and access to political resources are decisive in shaping university governance (cf. J.-I. Kim 2017; Bae 2016; M.-H. Kim 2015b; Shon 2014). Accordingly, despite the differing historical developments and sociocultural-religious contexts of CHE in the US and Korea, the study of how Korean CHE navigates between the aims of its mission and national and global pressures can contribute not only to understanding CHE in Korea but also to the broader landscape of CHE worldwide.

On the whole, existing literature illustrates a need for further research on how Korean Catholic universities resist, adapt to, or are transformed by the dual pressures of state and market and how they reinterpret their mission in the new, seemingly paradoxical context.

2.2. Theoretical Background

This paper draws upon the work of Pierre Bourdieu and H. Richard Niebuhr to analyze the evolution and current tensions of CHE in Korea. From the perspective of Bourdieu’s field theory (Bourdieu 1988), Korean CHE is situated at the intersection of two relatively autonomous but overlapping fields: that of secular higher education governed by norms such as rankings, research productivity, and accreditation standards; and that of Church oriented toward theological integrity, evangelization, and the moral-spiritual formation of students. Each field operates with its own logic, forms of capital (scientific or symbolic/spiritual), and modes of recognition. Catholic universities face constant tensions in negotiating legitimacy and success in both domains, often without clear alignment between the two aims.

This dual positioning can be further clarified through the theological lens of H. Richard Niebuhr’s typology of Christian responses to culture in general as outlined in Christ and Culture (Niebuhr [1951] 2001). Niebuhr’s five models—Christ against culture, Christ of culture, Christ above culture, Christ and culture in paradox, and Christ transforming culture—represent distinct theological stances that may be analogously applied to Catholic institutional identity. Universities exhibiting the orientation of “Christ against culture” commonly prioritize ecclesial identity, resisting secular influences, emphasizing orthodoxy, and maintaining institutional autonomy. In contrast, those adopting a “Christ of culture” model are more likely to accommodate prevailing cultural or academic norms, leading to varying degrees of assimilation. The “Christ above culture” posture seeks a synthesis between faith and reason, often through integrative frameworks rooted in natural law or the Catholic intellectual tradition. A substantial number of Catholic universities in pluralistic societies can be understood through the “Christ and culture in paradox” model, accepting the legitimacy of both ecclesial and academic norms while acknowledging the somewhat paradoxical tension that exists between them. Such universities operate with a dual allegiance to Church mission and academic credibility, often resulting in unresolved institutional tensions. Finally, institutions reflecting a “Christ transforming culture” stance aim to use their educational mission as a means of shaping society, particularly through commitments to social justice, ethics, and Catholic Social Teaching. Integrating Bourdieu’s field theory with Niebuhr’s theological typology provides a means of analyzing the diverse ways in which Catholic universities construct and negotiate their identity.

2.3. Method

This study employs a historical-sociological case-study approach complemented by theological reflection. It focuses on three major Catholic universities in Korea: Sogang University run by Jesuits, Catholic University of Korea by the Seoul Archdiocese, Daegu Catholic University by the Daegu Archdiocese. These have been selected from among the twelve universities under the Association of Catholic University Presidents, excluding those that became comprehensive or Catholic-affiliated only after the 1990s. The three universities were chosen for their representativeness and diversity within Korean CHE. Data has been selected from relevant academic literature, government and media reports, documents of these three universities, and interviews conducted in April 2023 with fifteen of their administrative personnel.

3. History of Catholic Higher Education in Korea

Understanding the historical trajectory of CHE in Korea is essential for grasping how these institutions now pursue their religious aims while mediating between global trends and local needs and how they face challenges in today’s competition-driven field.

3.1. Early Development: Post-Liberation Aspirations and Missionary Networks

The origins of CHE in Korea can be traced to the immediate aftermath of liberation from Japanese colonial rule with the end of World War II. In September 1948, the Korean Catholic Church formally requested the Vatican for help in establishing Catholic universities (Sogang University 2000, p. 53). This request came nearly half a century after the well-known incident in which then Bishop Gustave Mutel of Korea declined a similar proposal from the Catholic social activist Ahn Jung-geun,7 and was based on two intertwined motivations. First, ad intra, the Korean Church, with just over 180,000 members at the time, amounted to just a small minority of the Korean population (Oh 1995, p. 5). The Catholic leaders were acutely aware of the influence that Protestant-founded institutions—such as Ewha College for Women, Yonhee College, and Severance Medical College—had exerted on Korean society during the colonial era. Given this situation, they realized that these institutions had become prominent vehicles for social and cultural influence, and they envisioned a similar role for Catholic universities. Secondly, ad extra, the post-liberation period was marked by a national drive to nurture future leaders for the new Republic of Korea. Education, long valued in the Korea’s Confucian heritage, was regarded as essential for both individual advancement and national development. The rapid expansion of private universities during the U.S. military occupation (1945–1948) underscored this trend. Though the number of public universities fell from twelve to ten, private institutions grew from nine to twenty-seven during that short period (J.-I. Kim 2017, p. 98). Thus, the request to establish Catholic universities can be understood as serving dual aims: internally, to foster Catholic intellectuals and strengthen institutional stability within the Church; externally, to contribute to the broader national project of reconstruction and the cultivation of human resources in post-liberation Korea (cf. Sogang University 2000, pp. 50–54).

The establishment of Catholic universities was delayed by the Korean War, but the 1950s and 1960s witnessed the founding of several key institutions: Hyosung Women’s Junior College (1952), Sogang University (1960 by Jesuits), and Sacred Heart Women’s University (1964 by the Sacred Heart Sisters), as well as nursing schools established by the Maryknoll (1964) and Columban Sisters (1967). Except for Hyosung, these early Catholic institutions of higher learning were founded and operated by international religious orders and missionary societies—a reflection of both the limited domestic resources of the Korean Church and the growing support of the global Catholic network.

The contribution of international religious orders went far beyond financial assistance. They introduced advanced educational systems and institutional cultures rooted in their own longstanding pedagogical traditions. Sogang University, a Jesuit university pioneered innovations in Korean higher education such as faculty sabbaticals and open-shelf libraries; and its strict academic standards, such as the “Failure due to Absence” policy and absolute grading, stood in stark contrast to the relatively relaxed student culture of the time8. Such measures raised academic standards in Korean HE generally while setting Catholic universities apart as sites of institutional innovation and transparent governance in contrast to the frequent scandals that plagued other private universities.

American influence on education, as on other social aspects in post-colonial Korea, was strong. Anecdotal evidence like the struggles of non-American-connected university leaders in securing funding underscores that influence.9 The significance of the nation’s relationship with the US was manifest in broader postwar Korean trends toward modernization, a relationship which was unsymmetrical, with the US serving as both a political ally and a model for educational and other reforms. The rapid ascent of Sogang, founded by US Jesuits, to prestigious status despite its youth exemplifies how global religious and academic networks could accelerate institutional differentiation in postcolonial Korea.

3.2. Indigenization and Competition

In the 1990s, Korean CHE underwent internal restructuring and external transformation. This era is defined by two interwoven developments: the localization of institutional leadership—with diocesan clergy assuming primary governance of Catholic universities—and the emergence of a highly competitive, market-driven university environment. Until the late twentieth century, most Korean Catholic universities were established and operated by international religious orders and missionary societies. However, by the 1990s, the landscape had shifted dramatically. With the exception of Sogang University, the major Catholic universities came to be run by dioceses. The Columban Nursing College came under the Archdiocese of Gwangju in 1990 and was later reorganized into Mokpo Catholic University in 1999. The Maryknoll Nursing School became Jisan College, later integrated into Busan Catholic University in 1999. Sacred Heart Women’s University changed its name and governance structure in 1994, becoming the Catholic University of Korea, run by the Archdiocese of Seoul.

This process of indigenization was propelled by several factors. From an extra-ecclesial perspective, Korea’s economic development and political democratization greatly reduced the country’s dependence on foreign aid; and local ecclesial institutions were increasingly better able to mobilize domestic material resources to support HE. From an internal Church perspective, both domestic and international dimensions were at play. Domestically, the Catholic Church in Korea continued to grow steadily after liberation and, especially between the 1970s and 1990s, experienced rapid expansion. Internationally, this was also the period in which the global Church began to undergo de-Europeanization as the Western churches traditionally responsible for missionary activity and financial support in the Global South began to decline. As a result, the international religious orders and missionary societies that were previously the key players in Korean CHE faced growing limitations in personnel and material resources. All this made the indigenization of Korean Catholic educational institutions increasingly more feasible.

The result was a distinctively diocese-led CHE in Korea, in contrast to many institutions of CHE in other countries, where religious orders have continued to play a central role. This reflects the clerical orientation of the Korean Church.10 While religious orders and lay faculty have remained important, diocesan priests have increasingly shaped the mission, administration, and ethos of Catholic universities.

At the same time, Korean HE on the whole was being reshaped by forces of neoliberal globalization and state-led reforms. The mid-1990s saw the introduction of policies that promoted university excellence, specialization, and internationalization. Government initiatives such as the undergraduate division system, deregulation of the establishment of universities, the corporatization of national universities, and performance-based funding (e.g., Brain Korea 21) intensified competition among universities for students, resources, and prestige. The reputation for transparent governance and moral authority that had been established under missionary leadership now had to contend with demands for efficiency, profitability, and external validation. The logic of marketization and global rankings compelled Catholic universities to adapt their organizational priorities, often at the expense of their distinctive educational missions.

In addition to these macro-level forces of globalization and neoliberal reform, the strengthening of institutional capacity at the university level has also created new circumstances for CHE in Korea. As Korea’s development progressed, the number of faculty with Western, especially US doctoral degrees increased; and universities upgraded their organizational and academic infrastructures. This institutional strengthening has, over time, diminished the relative distinctiveness of the advanced programs and organizational structures that missionaries had introduced. Moreover, US-trained academics are accustomed to performance-based systems and American models of governance.

4. Catholic Higher Education in the Competition-Driven Field

The following analysis examines how the competition-driven field has challenged institutional priorities and how CHE institutions have responded in Korea.

4.1. The Ascendancy of Market Logic

At the macro level, the Korean state’s pursuit of “world-class university” status has driven universities to prioritize global rankings, research output, and industry partnerships. This policy orientation, reminiscent of the Economic Planning Board’s selective support for key industries during Korea’s industrialization, now allocates differentiated funding and recognition to universities based on their perceived competitiveness and alignment with national goals. Deregulation in the 1990s led to a dramatic proliferation of universities and a near-universal college enrollment rate, 74.9% in 2023 (Government 24, 2024), intensifying competition for survival among institutions amid declining birth rates and demographic contraction.

This transformation influenced by market logic has been most visibly reflected in the growing corporation-style management of universities and the university rankings since 1994 of the newspaper, the Samsung-owned JoongAng Ilbo. At Sogang University, corporate management came to the front after the appointment as university president in 2005 of Son Byung-doo, a former vice-chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries. The first layperson to serve as president of Sogang, he described himself not merely as a “CEO-style” president but simply as “CEO president” (H. Lee 2005). His appointment exemplifies how the image and expectations of university presidents in Korea have changed in tandem with structural transformations in the university field. Whereas university presidents were once conceived of as academic leaders—educators and researchers—they are now increasingly valued for their ability to secure financial resources and promote university development. Son emphasized that the university president should not merely resemble a corporate CEO, but in fact be one.

Market logic is also visible in the reallocation of university resources toward “profitable” programs. According to data from 2003 to 2022, the admission quotas for humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences in Korea have significantly declined, while those for medicine and engineering have increased. The quota for the humanities decreased by over 10,000 students, marking a 21.6% decline, followed by social sciences (19.0%) and natural sciences (17.5%). In contrast, the engineering field saw an increase of 3907 students (4.5%), while the medical field grew significantly by 15,725 students (147.0%) (Hanguk Godeung Gyoyuk Yeonguwon [Korea Higher Education Research Institute] 2023). Fields that are less popular—humanities and social sciences, have been subject to mergers and closures, including the closure of a philosophy department in one of the Catholic universities. The government’s recent push to expand “undesignated” or “open major” admissions is expected to accelerate this trend.

Another consequence of marketization is the dramatic rise in non-tenure-track and adjunct faculty as universities seek to reduce costs and increase flexibility. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of part-time lecturers at four-year universities in Korea increased by nearly 15%, with private universities seeing a 20.6% rise. Additionally, the number of other non-regular faculty rose by 3589 (16.5%) (M.-A. Lee 2023). The implementation of the “Adjunct Lecturer Act” (2019) has led to a reduction in tenured positions, with retiring professors increasingly replaced by contingent faculty.

This trend of market logic mirrors a broader shift in HE (Slaughter and Rhoades 2004; Molesworth et al. 2011). It often leads to prioritizing STEM and business disciplines over the humanities, to emphasizing branding, and to fostering competition for tuition, prestige, and funding. As a result, academic values like intellectual freedom, public mission, and critical inquiry are frequently subordinated to efficiency, ‘customer’ satisfaction, and institutional reputation.

4.2. Institutional Identity in Crisis

More than a decade ago. Professor Lee Min-woo of the College of Engineering at Seoul National University voiced serious concerns about this situation. In a passionate 2011 retirement interview, he warned of the future consequences that this reality would produce for Korean society:

University presidents are obsessed with raising global rankings; professors are fixated on the number of published papers; students are absorbed in managing their GPAs and résumés. Education itself has disappeared from the university. The passion to teach and to learn has been lost. It would be strange if a crisis did not occur. If we continue down this path, we will soon witness the collapse of community. Natural tsunamis may at least strengthen communal solidarity, but these social ‘tsunamis’—produced by social fragmentation—will tear communities apart. And yet no one is speaking out. What are the social science professors doing?

(H.-W. Lee 2011)

Lee’s critique was mirrored in the diagnosis of a sociologist several years later, who claimed that contemporary Korean university students live according to a mode of ‘survivalism,’ which in turn signifies a disintegration of “the social” (H. J. Kim 2015a). Professor Lee’s rhetorical question—“What are the social science professors doing?”—calls for reflection on how Catholic universities are engaging with the present challenges in Korea.

While competition has become internalized as a rule by both individuals and institutions, it increasingly shapes them into “achievement subjects.” Catholic universities are not exempt from these dynamics. They face mounting pressure to conform to the prevailing rules. In 2020, Fr. Kim Jung-woo, former president of Daegu Catholic University gave expression to this concern:

Daegu Catholic University, like other universities, cannot avoid participating in this competition. <…> Amid this capitalist culture of excessive competition, one must seriously consider what path Daegu Catholic University ought to take, and how it might continue to embody its Catholic distinctiveness.

(J.-W. Kim 2020, p. 12)

Fr. Kim’s concern about the raison d’être of Catholic universities in a competition-driven environment reflects the broader crisis in HE. It underscores the challenges faced by all provincial private universities amid declining enrollment rates. The difficulties stem, too, from the concentration of students and faculty in the capital city of Seoul and the consequent marginalization of provincial institutions, which face more immediate pressures for survival. In contrast, the Catholic University of Korea and Sogang University—both located in the capital and ranked high in national evaluations—are exhibiting a proactive stance, responding to the challenges rather than just expressing concern. On the whole, the efforts of Catholic institutions to navigate market forces and governmental demands while advancing the ideals of CHE have taken diverse forms.

4.3. Catholic Universities’ Navigating Between Competitiveness and Mission

The intensification of competition in the Korean HE field has had an influence on the organizational features of Catholic universities, reinforcing practices oriented towards performance metrics, rankings, and quantifiable outputs. These mechanisms not only govern resource allocation, but also subtly reconfigure the aspirations and values of students, faculty, and administrators, often subordinating educational presence to institutional productivity and market-driven outcomes. Nonetheless, Korean CHE is not fully assimilated into the general trends of HE in Korea.

Catholic universities have sought to articulate and preserve their distinct identity through an array of initiatives aimed at embedding Catholic humanistic and ethical values within institutional life. Programs such as Sogang University’s “Reflection and Growth” and Daegu Catholic University’s “Refresh Week” exemplify these efforts. The “Reflection and Growth” program, introduced in 2016 as a core liberal arts course for first-year students, responds to an exam-focused educational background by cultivating holistic development through an experiential model for Experience, Reflection, and Action. This structured process fosters interior discernment and spiritual accompaniment and aims to situate academic and personal growth within a framework of Catholic anthropology. Daegu Catholic University’s “Refresh Week,” a two-week renewal opportunity for lay staff with over twenty years of service, offers a rare form of “sabbatical week” in Korean universities. The initial days, framed as a nature-based pilgrimage retreat and guided by the Office of Campus Ministry, foster community and reflection beyond routine administrative functions.

On a broader scale, the three Catholic universities surveyed in this paper are endeavoring explicitly or implicitly to uphold strong liberal arts curricula, emphasizing Christian anthropology, Catholic social thought, and service-learning. As a broader initiative, the CU12 (Catholic Universities 12) consortium represents a significant collaborative venture. Since 2022, this alliance has involved twelve Catholic universities jointly offering a standardized general education program designed to promote Catholic values, ethical responsibility, and social participation across institutional boundaries. The CU12 framework exemplifies a system-level integration of Catholic identity and mission within Korea’s competitive academic environment.

Despite these ongoing efforts, persons interviewed in the three institutions have voiced constructive criticism regarding current institutional practices. Two recurring themes emerge prominently. The first pertains to the importance of research not just for external evaluation, but for engaging with pressing social and ethical challenges. One professor remarked:

“Catholic universities should go beyond character education. It is time for them to reflect on major challenges facing modern society. How should Catholic universities respond to the issue of artificial intelligence? <…> They must assume a role in setting the national agenda with regard to such questions”.

(Interviewer, 24 April 2023)

Institutional priorities, he argues, must move beyond external metrics like rankings and address urgent societal concerns in an era marked by the rapid changes brought about by such forces as artificial intelligence and the emergence of a multi-cultural society in Korea.

The second theme concerns governance style. A staff member at a diocesan-run university noted:

“There is a tendency to regard the priest’s word as absolute, rather than to foster a culture of mutual discussion. A process of shared deliberation is necessary to prepare for change”.

(Interviewer, 24 April 2023)

Authoritarian leadership styles have long been subject to criticism in both ecclesial institutions and Korean organizational culture at large. In Catholic universities, this is accentuated when clergy occupy a key decision-making role, as their religious authority intersects with bureaucratic administrative structures. In such a context, communicative leadership is not only essential for institutional adaptability and mission alignment amid external pressures; it offers Catholic universities an opportunity to contribute to the cultural renewal of governance in Korean universities on the whole.

University leadership deserves special examination. It has particular importance in the Korean context, where deeply rooted hierarchical bureaucratic practices intersect with market-driven reforms. Catholic university presidents have articulated strategies to balance adaptation to national educational policy and market demand with the CHE heritage. In this, however, leadership in practice inevitably reveals its limitations amid diverse expectations.

Fr. Sim, president of Sogang University since 2021, acknowledges the dynamic interplay between foundational identity and evolving academic landscapes.

“Both the world and the academic realm are constantly changing. While we must maintain a solid foundation, we should also evolve in line with the changing trends of the world and scholarship.” He adds, “Placing emphasis on ‘human excellence’ does not necessarily mean prioritizing the humanities alone. One must serve others as a truly human being with excellence in one’s professional field.”

11

His presidency has witnessed notable developments in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors—sectors aligned with the demands of the market and the national industrial policy agenda. However, this strategic focus has brought discontent from the humanities faculty, who point out that in the college-specific QS rankings, the highest-rated field at Sogang is the College of Humanities, though the central administration neglects it.12

At the Catholic University of Korea, president Fr. Choi has promoted institutional orientations centered on research and competitiveness. He acknowledges that the humanities are a defining feature of CHE and essential for cultivating “literacy” not only in the social and cultural fields, but also in science and technology. However, he frames the marginalization of the humanities as a “dilemma,” but attributes it more to declining student interest and an increasing trend to individual preference than to structural factors like policy or market logic. He interprets the state-driven expansion of “open major” undergraduate programs not as a policy response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but rather as a way of “fully guaranteeing students’ freedom to choose their major.”13 This position is distant from the view of the former international head of the Jesuits Fr. Peter Kolvenbach (2008), who, while respecting students and their parents’ pursuit for economic success, advocates the pursuit of social justice according to the Catholic and Jesuit educational tradition.

Taken together, the responses of Korean Catholic universities to rapid changes in HE are neither simple nor uniform. They unfold in diverse and complex layers. There are innovative initiatives like the establishment of the university consortium, but there are gaps between official rhetoric and actual commitment. Although leadership maintains a clear awareness of the Catholic mission of a university, it also pays attention to practical concerns of “adaptation” and “performance.” On the whole, CHE in Korea is navigating in a complex way between the poles of competition and mission.

5. Discussion

Niebuhr’s five-fold typology—Christ against Culture, Christ of Culture, Christ above Culture, Christ and Culture in Paradox, and Christ the Transformer of Culture—can serve as a heuristic framework for evaluating Christian responses to HE and other modern secular institutions. In the Korean context, CHE can be categorized as the paradoxical model. It is neither wholly withdrawn from nor assimilated into secular academia. It exists in a dynamic state of tension and negotiation.

The admittedly limited evidence drawn from the three major Korean Catholic universities demonstrates that they consistently occupy a position of paradox—balancing the demands of market competitiveness, state policy, and global rankings with the imperative to maintain the traditional mission of CHE. This stance is not merely theoretical, but enacted in day-to-day decisions on curriculum, governance, and resource allocation. All three of these universities explicitly identify themselves as Catholic, but most students are non-Catholic.14 Faculty and staff operate within a largely secularized academic rule, and like other universities, they actively compete in rankings. The Korean Ministry of Education tightly controls private universities and allows no religious preference in admission or hiring.

Catholic universities in Korea neither embrace a separatist stance (“Christ against Culture”) nor pursue full assimilation (“Christ of Culture”). They neither reflect harmonious synthesis between mission and competition or between faith and reason, not having a fully integrated Christian curriculum (Christ above Culture) and not serving as a transformative social agent with strong institutional coherence and leadership (Christ transforming Culture). Rather, they embody a “both-and” dualism, striving to navigate commitments to the distinctive CHE mission along with the pragmatic realities of neoliberal academia. The paradox model helps explain how Korean Catholic universities enact both compliance and resistance. They meet state accreditation standards and pursue national/global rankings, yet simultaneously develop mission-driven programs and foster communities that reflect Catholic values.

Though Korean CHE strives to pursue its mission through collaborative programs and curricular reform, significant limitations thus continually surface. Despite mission-driven rhetoric, university officials comply with state assessments and market measures, risking “mission dilution” in pursuit of external validation. Rationales that frame the decline of humanities simply as “student preference” deflect attention from structural and policy influences that weaken traditional Catholic intellectual strengths. Governance for competition easily reinforces a bureaucratic hierarchical culture organized for the sake of efficiency that constrains the fostering of dialogical decision-making and limits adaptive capacity.

Drawing on the idea of coincidental oppositorum,15 however, the present paper argues that the paradox cannot be interpreted merely as a matter of institutional inconsistency. It is also a source of Korean CHE resilience. The resilience springs not from either rejection of or assimilation to the secular academic agenda, but from sustained engagement with the seeming contradictions. Initiatives like Sogang University’s “Reflection and Growth,” Daegu’s “Refresh Week,” and the CU12 consortium, represent creative adaptation that use the academic arena for holistic education and spiritual development even as external pressures mount. Negotiation between mission and market, identity and compliance, not avoidance of the tension, marks Korean Catholic universities’ resilience and ability to endure. The tensions that CHE navigates between prophetic witness and institutional survival are themselves productive. They foster enduring action, creative adaptation, and renewed engagement with both tradition and contemporary challenges.

6. Conclusions

This study has demonstrated that Korean CHE occupies a unique position of tension, balancing its Catholic mission with the current competition-driven field of HE worldwide. CHE operates within secular, market-driven frameworks while maintaining a commitment to Catholic identity and mission. The tension between mission and competitiveness is a defining feature of CHE. Rather than attempting to resolve this tension, Korean CHE continuously negotiates both imperatives, leading to creative adaptations such as collaborative programs and curricular innovation, while also emphasizing the need for mission-focused governance.

Research on Catholic universities in Korea remains scarce, and studies of HE on the whole have yet to keep pace with the nation’s rapid transformations. The present study is a preliminary investigation that offers a comprehensive overview of the field, but more extensive, in-depth data collection from multiple Catholic universities is needed. Future research should develop themes that have emerged here, such as university governance and organizational culture, and comparative studies with other religiously affiliated and public universities are needed to enhance understanding of CHE in Korea.

This study focuses on Korean CHE, but it can serve as both a resource for understanding the present situation of Korean higher education and an invitation for rethinking CHE in other non-Western societies that are undergoing rapid transition. By foregrounding the creative tension between Catholic mission and market imperatives in Korea, the paper can hopefully provide a model for understanding both the challenges and adaptive potentials facing Catholic universities globally. Future research grounded in diverse, contextually sound data and comparative frameworks is needed to explore new directions for CHE in pluralistic and competitive environments. Collaborative work on CHE can shed light on a significant dimension of the lived experience of Catholicism in the contemporary world.