Sookmyung Girls' High School, a 120-year-old private girls' school, will welcome its first male principal since Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule. As a leading girls' school that has long maintained a system of female principals makes a personnel decision prioritizing school management capability over gender, attention is turning to whether a wind of change will blow through the leadership of established girls' schools and women's universities.
According to education circles Tuesday, the board of the Myeongsin Girls' School Foundation recently appointed former vice principal Jeong Jae-wan as the next principal of Sookmyung Girls' High School. Jeong will take office on Sept. 1, succeeding Principal Lee Hye-sook, who led the school's normalization following the 2018 Sookmyung Girls' High School exam paper leak scandal.
Sookmyung Girls' High School traces its origins to Myeongsin Girls' School, founded in 1906 by Sunheon Hwang Gwi-bi, a royal concubine of Emperor Gojong. It established its current Sookmyung Girls' High School structure in 1951, and in 2013 the Myeongsin Girls' School Foundation, which operates Sookmyung Girls' Middle and High schools, was separated from the Sookmyung Academy, which operates Sookmyung Women's University. Although a Japanese principal led the school during the Japanese colonial period, a system of female principals has continued ever since liberation. As female principals have led the school even after the launch of the Myeongsin Girls' School Foundation, observers say this personnel decision could mark a turning point in the school's personnel culture.
"There has been a perception of a divide between Sookmyung Girls' High School alumni teachers and non-alumni teachers surrounding principal appointments, and there was no shortage of talk that promotion opportunities for male teachers were limited," said an official familiar with the school's affairs. "This appointment is being received as a result of placing high value on school management experience and organizational management capability over academic ties or background."
In education circles, some forecast that this appointment could have a considerable impact on the leadership of other girls' schools and women's universities beyond Sookmyung Girls' High School. As Ewha Girls' High School, another leading girls' school, has also maintained a system of female principals since liberation, analysts say a trend of selecting talent based on school management capability and leadership rather than gender could spread even among established women's educational institutions.
In particular, at private schools, the principal position not only oversees school operations but is also a key post for vetting a leader who will later participate as a member of the school foundation's board and be involved in running the foundation. As there are numerous cases of former principals serving as board members of school foundations, some observers say this appointment could affect the school's long-term operational system and leadership, beyond a simple change of principal.
"As the environment surrounding schools rapidly changes due to the introduction of the high school credit system and the declining school-age population, selecting talent with school management capability has become even more important," said Park Ju-hyung, a professor of education at Gyeongin National University of Education. "There is a possibility that established girls' schools and women's universities will increasingly review personnel decisions centered on leadership and expertise rather than gender or background, while maintaining the school's historical significance and identity."
