Shin Arita is a professor at the Unversity of Tokyo.

East Asia is a hot spot where people’s educational enthusiasm is realized in rigorous competition for academic credentials; an outcome of which is students’ higher academic performances in international comparisons. South Korea is a country with a well-known intensive academic meritocracy. Does the academic meritocracy, however, accurately reflect the reality of the society? How is an ‘objective’ condition of the effect of academic credentials on one’s socioeconomic status converted into a ‘subjective’ condition of the effect of one’s academic credentials? Shin Arita, a comparative sociologist, renders cogent answers to these questions though his comprehensive quantitative analyses, which uncover accurate figures of Korean meritocracy. Readers can learn from Arita’s thorough investigations what roles education plays in shaping social stratification in a rapidly modernized society. This is a must-read book for those who are interested in the evolution of meritocracy.

• IntroductionPart I. Theory, Structure, and SystemChapter 1. Theoretical Consideration of Academic Credential and Distribution of Position/RemunerationChapter 2. Social Hierarchical Structure and Industrialization in South KoreaChapter 3. School Education Systems and Selection Systems of South KoreaPart II. Economic Remuneration, Occupational Rank, and Social MobilityChapter 4. Effect of Academic Credentials on Wage Level and Its ChangeChapter 5. Effect of Academic Credentials on Determination of Occupational Positions and Its Change: Analyzing the Job Engagement Process of New GraduatesChapter 6. Educational Achievement, and Social Stratification / Stratification MobilityEpilogue. Impression of Academic Credential-Based Society and the South Korean Society: The Academic Credential Effect, Education System, and Distribution Issue

Shin Arita is a professor at the Unversity of Tokyo.

East Asia is a hot spot where people’s educational enthusiasm is realized in rigorous competition for academic credentials; an outcome of which is students’ higher academic performances in international comparisons. South Korea is a country with a well-known intensive academic meritocracy. Does the academic meritocracy, however, accurately reflect the reality of the society? How is an ‘objective’ condition of the effect of academic credentials on one’s socioeconomic status converted into a ‘subjective’ condition of the effect of one’s academic credentials? Shin Arita, a comparative sociologist, renders cogent answers to these questions though his comprehensive quantitative analyses, which uncover accurate figures of Korean meritocracy. Readers can learn from Arita’s thorough investigations what roles education plays in shaping social stratification in a rapidly modernized society. This is a must-read book for those who are interested in the evolution of meritocracy.

• IntroductionPart I. Theory, Structure, and SystemChapter 1. Theoretical Consideration of Academic Credential and Distribution of Position/RemunerationChapter 2. Social Hierarchical Structure and Industrialization in South KoreaChapter 3. School Education Systems and Selection Systems of South KoreaPart II. Economic Remuneration, Occupational Rank, and Social MobilityChapter 4. Effect of Academic Credentials on Wage Level and Its ChangeChapter 5. Effect of Academic Credentials on Determination of Occupational Positions and Its Change: Analyzing the Job Engagement Process of New GraduatesChapter 6. Educational Achievement, and Social Stratification / Stratification MobilityEpilogue. Impression of Academic Credential-Based Society and the South Korean Society: The Academic Credential Effect, Education System, and Distribution Issue

Shin Arita is a professor at the Unversity of Tokyo.

East Asia is a hot spot where people’s educational enthusiasm is realized in rigorous competition for academic credentials; an outcome of which is students’ higher academic performances in international comparisons. South Korea is a country with a well-known intensive academic meritocracy. Does the academic meritocracy, however, accurately reflect the reality of the society? How is an ‘objective’ condition of the effect of academic credentials on one’s socioeconomic status converted into a ‘subjective’ condition of the effect of one’s academic credentials? Shin Arita, a comparative sociologist, renders cogent answers to these questions though his comprehensive quantitative analyses, which uncover accurate figures of Korean meritocracy. Readers can learn from Arita’s thorough investigations what roles education plays in shaping social stratification in a rapidly modernized society. This is a must-read book for those who are interested in the evolution of meritocracy.

• IntroductionPart I. Theory, Structure, and SystemChapter 1. Theoretical Consideration of Academic Credential and Distribution of Position/RemunerationChapter 2. Social Hierarchical Structure and Industrialization in South KoreaChapter 3. School Education Systems and Selection Systems of South KoreaPart II. Economic Remuneration, Occupational Rank, and Social MobilityChapter 4. Effect of Academic Credentials on Wage Level and Its ChangeChapter 5. Effect of Academic Credentials on Determination of Occupational Positions and Its Change: Analyzing the Job Engagement Process of New GraduatesChapter 6. Educational Achievement, and Social Stratification / Stratification MobilityEpilogue. Impression of Academic Credential-Based Society and the South Korean Society: The Academic Credential Effect, Education System, and Distribution Issue