Academic Inbreeding of Korean Professors: Academic Training, Networks, and their Performance

Abstract

This study focused on doctoral training and inbreeding status among Korean academics in relation to their perceptions, activities, performance, and job satisfaction. Faculty training patterns were classified into three categories—foreign PhDs, PhDs from a home university in Korea, and PhDs from other domestic universities. Inbreeding status was based on whether faculty graduated from the same university where they had been undergraduate students. This study found that inbred faculty members have a strong sense of affiliation towards their institutions, spend more time on research and service activities than non-inbred professors, but spend less on teaching. However, regression analysis performed found that inbred professors are not necessarily more productive than non-inbred professors, nor more satisfied with their job.