A Study on the Need to Revise Academic Classification for Establishing the Academic Identity of Beauty

This study explores the necessity of establishing the academic identity of beauty and revising its classification system from both academic and institutional perspectives. Although beauty has evolved into a multidisciplinary field contributing significantly to the growth of the K-Beauty industry and global Beauty-Tech innovation, it remains institutionally marginalized within national academic classifications. The current classification system—represented by the National Science and Technology Standard Classification, the National Research Foundation’s Academic Standard Classification, and the Review Board (RB) system—fails to reflect the interdisciplinary nature and societal contributions of beauty, thereby creating structural inequalities in research evaluation and funding. Through document analysis and comparative review, this study examines the classification of beauty in Korea and contrasts it with international systems such as the U.S. Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP), Japan’s NIER classification, and the OECD Field of Science (FOS) framework. The results reveal that while beauty is recognized as an independent academic or educational domain in many global systems, Korea continues to position it under textile and fashion design, which limits its academic independence and research support structure. The findings emphasize the urgent need to revise the domestic classification system to reflect the academic maturity and interdisciplinary nature of beauty. Establishing an independent subfield or a specialized Review Board (RB) category would enhance academic legitimacy, improve fairness in research evaluation, and strengthen the global competitiveness of K-Beauty. This study concludes that revising beauty’s classification is not only essential for advancing scholarly identity but also for ensuring the sustainable development of Korea’s beauty-related academic and industrial ecosystem.