Analysis and Design Directions for the 4-year University Beauty Department Curriculum and Microdegree Programs

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose directions that should be considered when designing microdegree programs in 4-year university beauty departments, in order to adapt to rapidly changing society and industries. To gather data, we utilized the Academic Research Information Service (RISS) to collect and analyze literature on the curriculum of 4-year university beauty departments and literature regarding directions for domestic microdegree programs. As a result, the problems in the curriculum of 4-year university beauty departments have been identified as ‘Lack of emphasis on practical skills’, ‘Disorganized curriculum structure’, ‘Absence of personalization and suitability considerations’, ‘Inadequate incorporation of industry changes and trends’, ‘Challenges in practical application’, ‘Incomplete educational environment and facilities’, ‘Failure to address student demands and opinions’. As suggestions for the direction of domestic microdegree programs, it has been proposed to ‘The development and operation of microdegree programs focused on competency-based education in specific fields according to students' career interests is necessary’, ‘Promotional activities for motivating student engagement and participation in microdegree courses are required’, ‘Continuous student needs assessment, evaluation, and monitoring are necessary for improving the quality of microdegree programs and fostering institutional innovation’, ‘Enhancement of credit recognition for diverse educational experiences and collaboration with industries and government policies is needed’, ‘An establishment of a microdegree committee within universities and the promotion of participation from industry representatives, government policies, alumni, professors, and current students should be encouraged’, ‘The review of government support programs is necessary, and microdegree programs should not be operated superficially by universities solely for the sake of achieving results based on government support’, ‘The organization of competitions utilizing microdegree learning experiences and providing certification opportunities for job-related competencies should be implemented’. Based on the analysis of literature, the following conclusions were drawn regarding the directions to consider when designing microdegree programs in 4-year university beauty departments ‘Establishment of a committee for quality management of microdegree education’, ‘Design and feedback of microdegree programs based on the demands of beauty department students’, ‘Encouragement of easy goal-setting for beauty department students using microdegrees’, ‘Enhancement of competencies through integration between microdegrees and academic disciplines’, ‘Provision of job experience opportunities through microdegrees’, and ‘Importance of industry-academia collaboration and expansion of resources for microdegrees’.