The disparity between campuses at Pusan National University (PNU) has also been revealed through statistics. It has been one year since Channel PNU reported on the campus discrimination issues through the special feature article "Unseen Walls" which was dated August 30th, 2024.

On June 4th, PNU’s ESG Management Center announced the publication of the "PNU Diversity Report 2024," which investigates the diversity awareness and firsthand experiences of members from the multi-campus communities. The report was written by the Diversity Committee (DC), a sub-organization under the ESG Management Center, which has been producing the university’s diversity index and investigating the diversity status of university organizations annually since its establishment in 2022. This year’s report focused on the multi-campus students, quantifying the disparity between campuses and offering policy recommendations to address the gap. The content on multi-campus diversity was a follow-up study to Channel PNU's special feature article "Unseen Walls."

The report reveals that the discriminatory experiences and feelings of deprivation among the multi-campus members were shown in quantitative data. The committee conducted surveys thrice to assess the awareness of diversity on campuses between December 2024 and January 2025. A total of 302 people, including 229 undergraduates and 73 graduate students from the Miryang and Yangsan campuses, were surveyed on the campus diversity environment. The survey covered three areas: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), to analyze the perceptions of members and reveal their experiences with diversity quantitatively.

Undergraduate students at the Miryang campus displayed the most negative perceptions, with all DEI aspects averaging in the 3-point range. The lowest average score across all groups was for Equity at 3.26. Students responded with comments like “Programs and support systems are insufficient” and “Facilities and administrative support vary across campuses,” indicating strong awareness of the disparities compared with the Busan campus. Researchers noted that the comments reflected the unfairness students felt regarding infrastructure.

Miryang undergraduate students consistently reported low satisfaction with campus life, regardless of gender or academic year. One of the key negative factors was transportation—challenges such as long bus intervals, high transportation costs, and long commutes. These persistent challenges impact both academics and safety. Students also reported experiences such as being told “Why would someone from the Miryang campus come to the PNU festival?,” or shared their opinions such as “I witnessed several derogatory remarks in online communities,” “It is harder to have diverse experiences compared to the Busan campus”  Kim In-Sun (Professor, PNU Women’s Studies Center), who led the study, emphasized that transportation was an overwhelming issue, calling it “a longstanding problem of the Miryang campus.”

Unlike Miryang, Yangsan campus students showed clear gender-based differences in perception. Among undergraduates, especially in the College of Nursing, female students recorded an average of 2.57 for Diversity and 2.54 for Equity—more than 0.3 points lower than their male peers. This discrepancy demonstrated a measurable gender perception gap. International students also actively participated in this study, identifying language and cultural disconnection, and a lack of administrative support as major concerns. Among all categories, inclusion scored the lowest overall, highlighting a seriously limited interaction and communication among members.

The physical layout of the campus further contributed to students’ dissatisfaction. A building in the Miryang campus belonging to the College of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, described as a “ghost building,” was found abandoned. Also, convenience facilities were limited, severely restricting students’ leisure options. Respondents described the campus as "a place they partially belonged to," or "one they wished to leave," with many students aiming to transfer to the Busan campus through double majors or exchange programs.

Based on the aforementioned surveys and field studies, recommendations included expanding transportation options, enhancing career counseling systems, and developing student-led programs for Miryang Campus undergraduates. For graduate students, it was deemed urgent to improve isolated research environments, enhance faculty expertise, and expand academic exchange. For Yangsan campus, the report proposed customized administrative services for international students and support for international joint research projects.

The report also proposed a sophisticated branding strategy to restore the identity of Miryang campus. Beyond improving facilities or alleviating inconveniences, it called for rebranding the campus as the “PNU Bio-Eco Campus,” aligning its academic focus with regional characteristics. This aims to project the campus’s specialization externally while enhancing the sense of belonging internally. The report concluded that institutional and support systems must accompany improvements in perception.

Professor Kim emphasized, “Renaming Miryang campus to Bio-Eco Campus and actively promoting its research and activities could enhance the campus members' sense of pride.” She added, “Real change begins when institutional reforms are accompanied by changes in awareness and actions from the members themselves.” Professor Kim further stated, “In the future, due to hate speech, exclusion and discrimination could become part of campus life. I hope PNU will become a community that shows respect and solidarity for the marginalized and minorities.”

Reporter Im Seung-Ha

Translated by Thadar-Soe