The Lecturer Act That Drove University Instructors into the Streets

For college students preparing for a new semester, the question of what courses will be offered next term is extremely important. In particular, since graduation requires taking around six courses each semester, whether the courses students need are actually offered each term, and whether an appropriate number of courses are available, has long been one of the recurring sources of conflict between universities and students.

This second semester, however, many say that the number of courses offered at most universities has dropped sharply compared with previous years. At a press conference, Yonsei University’s “Joint Committee on Countermeasures Related to the Adjunct Instructor Act” (hereafter, the Joint Committee) announced that “this second semester alone, more than 100 elective general education courses were cut, required general education courses in the values and ethics area fell by 65%, and the common curriculum at the Underwood International College declined by 39%, severely undermining students’ right to education,” and urged the university to guarantee students diversity in course offerings. Korea University’s Joint Committee likewise pointed out that 70 courses had been cut compared with previous years and made similar demands.

The explanation for this situation, as can be inferred from the name of the organization making the announcement, is that it is the aftereffect of the Adjunct Instructor Act, the amendment to the Higher Education Act related to improving the treatment of university adjunct instructors. The law was prompted in 2010 by the suicide of a part-time lecturer at Chosun University, and it was intended to improve conditions for university adjunct instructors, who faced extremely poor working environments, especially in terms of job security and status. But as improving their treatment inevitably increased the cost per instructor, universities unwilling to accept a rise in total costs chose instead to hire fewer instructors.

In response, the above-mentioned Joint Committees and various civic groups have emphasized the right to survival of instructors, which was the purpose of the legislation, and criticized universities’ decisions as a “loophole tactic.” They argue that universities, acting according to economic logic, are undermining the law’s intended purpose. In fact, according to a Ministry of Education survey, 7,800 instructors lost their jobs after the law took effect this second semester. Yet the universities’ decision was, in some sense, predictable. Universities, after all, are economic actors, not charities, and with tuition frozen for roughly 10 years, many are already under financial strain and could not fully absorb a law that only raises costs.

Just as the Adjunct Instructor Act, which was intended to improve instructors’ treatment, has caused many university instructors to lose their jobs, there is no guarantee that a law enacted for the noblest of purposes will actually achieve that purpose. Society does not operate on goodwill alone; it is made up of a highly complex web of relationships, and even actions taken with good intentions inevitably produce unforeseen effects. Besides the Adjunct Instructor Act, examples of this are easy to find. A representative case is the Act on the Protection of Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employees, enacted in 2007 to protect the rights and interests of non-regular workers, which paradoxically produced a flood of two-year temporary jobs.

For that reason, state legislation, which affects the lives of countless individuals, must be approached with caution. If a law merely fails to achieve its stated goal, that may not be a grave problem. But if a law enacted thoughtlessly in the name of good intentions instead harms the lives of innumerable individuals, then the state fails even in its fundamental purpose: promoting the happiness of its people. The renowned liberal scholar Friedrich Hayek also pointed out in his writings the problem of indiscriminate legislation for the benefit of specific groups. Of course, it may be difficult to apply academic discussion directly to reality, but his warning that legislation must be preceded by rigorous thought carries important implications for us.

One anecdote often cited as an example of failed state policy is “Robespierre’s Milk.” During the French Revolution, Robespierre, one of its leaders, saw that milk was so expensive that ordinary people could not properly consume it, and simply imposed a policy fixing the price of milk at half the market rate. It was an extremely shortsighted policy based on the notion that if prices are too high, one can simply lower them. As a result, dairy farmers could no longer make a profit by selling milk, so they sold off all their dairy cows to slaughterhouses, effectively cutting off the milk supply. In the end, milk prices soared even higher than before, turning it into a food product that only a tiny upper class could afford. Not only did the policy fail to achieve its goal, it also damaged the lives of countless people.

This example took place more than 200 years ago and is often treated as little more than “a ridiculous thing that happened long ago.” But it is no coincidence that Robespierre’s Milk comes to mind when one looks at laws that require non-regular workers to be converted to regular status after two years because they remain non-regular workers indefinitely, or laws that guarantee university instructors a one-year appointment term and provide for automatic contract renewal if certain conditions are met because their treatment is so poor. We cannot foresee every ripple effect a law will bring, nor can we legislate in a way that produces no side effects at all. But should we really tolerate side effects that could have been anticipated with just a single moment of reflection? This is a time when voices of self-examination are needed within the legislature.

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Original title: 대학 강사를 길거리로 내몬 강사법

Author: Jae-min Park

Date: 2019-09-17

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&pn=17&idx=21876