Ewha Womans University (Hangul: 이화여자대학교; Hanja: 梨花女子大學校) is a private women's university in Seoul, South Korea founded in 1886 by the American Methodist Episcopal Church. It is the world's largest female educational institute and is currently in middle of a political controversy in South Korea. Since its founding in 1886, Ewha Womans University has been considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
While the lack of an apostrophe in "Womans University" is unconventional, the use of "Woman's" rather than "Women's" was normal in the past.
Τhe use of "Womans" carries special meaning. The early founders of the college thought that every woman is to be respected; to promote this idea, they chose the word "woman" to avoid lumping students together under the word "women."
Ewha Womans University traces its roots back to Mary F. Scranton's Ehwa Haktang (Hangul: 이화학당; Hanja: 梨花學堂) mission school for girls, which opened with one student on May 31, 1886 (Lee, 2001). The name Ewha, which means “Pear Blossoms”, was bestowed by the Emperor Gojong the following year. The campus was covered with them, and historians speculate that a grove of pear trees near Scranton home's inspired the name. The image of the pear blossom is incorporated in the school's logo.
The school began providing college courses in 1910, and professional courses for women in 1925. Immediately following liberation of Korea on August 15, 1945, the college received government permission to become a university. It was the first South Korean university to be officially organized.
1886-1910
1886: First modern educational institute for Korean women, American missionary Mary F. Scranton began classes for women at her home in Jeong-dong, Seoul.
1887: Boguyeogwan offers medical service for women. As Korea’s first hospital exclusively for women, it laid the groundwork for Ewha’s Colleges of Nursing and Medicine, which became the current Ewha Womans University Medical Center.
1910-1925
1910: College courses launched in September The college opened at Ewha Haktang with 15 students; its inaugural class graduated in 1914.
1925: Founding of Ewha College. The college was elevated to Ewha College, making it the first institute of higher education for Korean women.
1925-1945
1935: Campus moves to Sinchon
1946-1961
1946: First Korean university to receive government accreditation. Ewha was accredited by the Ministry of Education, becoming the first accredited four-year university in Korea.
1951: Temporary wartime campus in Busan. Following the outbreak of the Korean War, Ewha opened an evacuee campus in the southern city of Busan on Sept. 1, 1951, with 30 temporary wooden structures and tents.
1961-2000
1977: Korea’s first women’s studies course and established the Korean Women’s Institute to seek development in the discipline.
1986: Ewha’s 100th anniversary of its foundation.
1995: Top marks in national accreditation, named top-ranked school in Comprehensive University Accreditation System conducted by Korean Council for University Education.
1996: Established the world's first engineering college for women
2000-2010
2001: Korea’s first International Studies Division opened, offering all courses in English.
2006: Ewha Global Partnership program
Korea’s first degree program for women from developing countries was established.
2007: Ewha-KOICA program started, an MA program for female researchers and public servants from developing countries.
2007: Scranton College self-designed major (undergraduate program) started.
2008: Construction of ECC, Korea’s largest environmentally friendly underground campus facility.
2010–present
2011: Established an Ewha-Solvay collaboration with multinational chemical corporation Solvay, to build the global headquarters of its R&D center at Ewha.
2012: Center of women’s global education by launching the Ewha Global Empowerment Program to foster female leaders in public and non-government sectors in developing countries.
Selected to receive KRW 100 billion over the next 10 years from the Institute for Basic Research.
2016: Center of women’s global education by launching the Ewha Global Empowerment Program to foster female leaders in public and non-government sectors in developing countries.
The university collaborates with around 830 partners in 64 countries including Australian National University, Cornell University, Freie University of Berlin, Ghent University, Harvard University, Indiana University, King’s College London, Nanyang Technological University, Peking University, University of California, Irvine, University of British Columbia, University of Edinburgh, University of Hong Kong, Uppsala University, and Waseda University.
Controversies and criticisms
While Ewha Womans University has been the center of women's rights movement that had some positive impact in Korean society, its largely radical feminism nature created many problems and controversies in Korean society. This greatly fueled the extreme gender biased views in Korean society. The most notorious example of this radical feminism was about men's benefit from military service. Originally, some benefits on employment were available to males who served the military because conscription basically led many man to lose their young lives in order to serve one's country. Yet, in 1999, Ewha Womans University students protested that this was sexism, and they argued that man should not be awarded any prize for serving one's country. This case eventually went to court, and the court ruled that this was indeed sexism. However, many men felt it was unfair because serving 18-month in the military naturally led them feeling uncompensated for their service to the country.
Ewha Womans University has been the center of the 2016 South Korean political scandal, where its student, Chung Yoo-ra, was admitted through bribery. Ewha Womans University's president has been arrested. Many of the school's professors have been arrested because of this scandal. It is currently considered to be the center of the scandal because without this incident, the political scandal may have not been uncovered.
Among the women lawmakers appointed to the 19th National Assembly (2012-2016), 27.6% are Ewha alumnae.
The only Korean university participating as a partner in the Harvard College in Asia Program (HCAP) and Ewha-Harvard Summer School Program.
Produced the 6th highest number of successful candidates in National Judicial Exam and the 7th highest number in Civil Service Exam in 2013(ranked 5th in 2012).
First among all private Korean universities in the number of citations per research paper in the 2012 Chosun-QS Evaluation of Asian Universities.
First in the 2013 Leiden Ranking, a qualitative assessment of faculty research in the world’s top 500 universities.
Fifth among all Korean universities in the Chosun-QS Evaluation of Asian Universities.
First in the nation in Education, Engineering, English Language & Literature, Environmental Engineering, History, Law, Mathematics, Nutritional Science & Food Management, Physics and Sociology.
Hillary Clinton — Former United States Secretary of State.
Drew Gilpin Faust — President of Harvard University.
Tarja Halonen — The 11th President of Finland.
Muhammad Yunus — President of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
George Smoot — Recipient of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006.
Robert Howard Grubbs — American chemist and a Nobel laureate.
Jane Goodall — British anthropologist.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell — Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University.
Lee Soon-ja — former First Lady, the wife of South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan.
Son Myung-soon — former First Lady, the wife of South Korean President Kim Young-sam.
Kim Yoon-ok — former First Lady, the wife of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
Lee Myung-hee — Chairwoman of the Shinsegae Group, daughter of Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul, and Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of Samsung Group's younger sister.
Lee Yoon-hyung — Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee's daughter.
Hyun Jeong-eun — Chairwoman of the Hyundai Group.
Shinae Chun — former Director of the Women's Bureau of United States Department of Labor.
Insoo Kim Berg — Korean-born American psychotherapist.
Han Myeong-sook — former Prime Minister of South Korea.
Jeon Yeo-ok — South Korean politician.
Hong Eun-Ah — youngest Korean FIFA referee.
Sohn Ji-ae — former Bureau Chief of CNN Seoul.
Sylvia Park MBE-First Korean female to be awarded a British royal honour.
Lee Tai-Young — first Korean female lawyer and first female judge.
Choi In-a — first Korean female Vice President in Samsung Group.
No Seok-mi — first Korean female Certified Public Accountant.
Helen Kim — first female Korean Doctor of Philosophy, and also the first Korean female Bachelor of Arts.
Hah Ran-sa — First Korean woman to acquire a Bachelor's degree at Ohio Wesleyan University in the United States.
Sohn Byoung-ok — first woman CEO of Prudential Life Korea.
Jeon Hyo-sook — first female justice in the Constitutional Court of Korea.
Lee Sung-nam — former executive of the Financial Supervisory Service.
Lee Ae-ran — in 2009, Lee Ae-ran became the first female North Korean defector to earn a doctorate, which she earned from Ewha Womans University in the subject of food and nutrition.
Kim Joo-ha — first Korean woman journalist to host news as a solo anchor at Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.
Yu Jung-geun — first Korean female president of Red Cross.
Jang Myung-sue — first woman CEO of a daily newspaper Hankook Ilbo.
Chang Hai-won — first Korean women scientist in the field of Chemistry.
Esther Park — first Korean female doctor.
Kwak Min-jeong — South Korean figure skater.
Lee Yu-bi — South Korean actress, daughter of actress Kyeon Mi-ri.
Kim Seo-yeon — Miss Korea 2014
Claudia Kim — South Korean actress.
Seo Min-jung — South Korean actress.
Park Hae-mi — South Korean musical actress.
Kwak Hyun-hwa — South Korean actress.
Ewha Womans University Museum
Ewha Womans University Natural History Museum
Ewha Womans University Medical Center
Ewha Institute For Leadership Development
Ewha Advanced IT Education Center
Ewha School Of Continuing Education
Ewha Language Center
Ewha Archives
Ewha Elementary School
Ewha Kindergarten
Ewha Kumnan High School
Ewha Kumnan Middle School
Youngran Information Industry High School
Youngran Girl's Middle School
Ewha Womans University Station
Gyeongui–Jungang Sinchon Station (Gyeongui Line)
