Korean Female Graduate Students’ Experiences in the United States
Recognizing and Addressing Their Challenges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v12i3.3835Keywords:
international students, female students, graduate students, discrimination, model minority, coping strategies, Korean international studentsAbstract
The unique experiences of Korean female graduate students (KFGS) in the United States (US) have not received much attention or been discussed although Korea has been one of the leading countries sending students to the US. By examining literature regarding the experiences of KFGS studying and living in the US, this paper reports their challenges (e.g., racial and gender discrimination, the model minority stereotype, and multiple roles as students and as wives and/or mothers) and ways to respond to those challenges. This paper also urges to conduct more research on lives of KFGS to make them visible and heard in US academia.
References
Bonazzo, C., & Wong, Y. J. (2007). Japanese international female students' experience of discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes. College Student Journal, 41, 631-640. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A169306807/AONE?u=anon~86c4a23c&sid=googleScholar&xid=73335ffa
Dua, P. (2007). Feminist mentoring and female graduate student success: Challenging gender inequality in higher education. Sociology Compass, 1, 594-612. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00042.x
Green, D. O. N., & Kim, E. (2005). Experiences of Korean female doctoral students in academe: Raising voice against gender and racial stereotypes. Journal of College Student Development, 46, 487-500. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2005.0048
Hsieh, M. H. (2006). Identity negotiation among female Chinese international students in second-language higher education. College Student Journal, 40, 870-884. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A156364421/AONE?u=anon~951efac2&sid=googleScholar&xid=d818d406
Institute of International Education. (2020). “International Scholars: Leading Places of Origin.” https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/leading-places-of-origin/
Korean Education Statistics Service (2020). “Number of full-time/non full-time teachers by establishment and position.” https://kess.kedi.re.kr/eng/stats/school?menuCd=0102&cd=4996&survSeq=2020&itemCode=01&menuId=m_010206&uppCd1=010206&uppCd2=010206&flag=A
Le, A. T., LaCost, B. Y., & Wismer, M. (2016). International female graduate students’ experience at a midwestern university: Sense of belonging and identity development. Journal of International Students, 6, 128-152. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v6i1.485
Lee, J. Y. (2013). South Korean “New Wild Geese” mothers studying in the US: Balancing between studenthood and motherhood (Master thesis, University of Kansas). http://hdl.handle.net/1808/14540
Lim, Y. (2019). The Acculturation Experiences of South Korean International Female Graduate Students: A Phenomenological Study (Doctoral dissertation, Saint Louis University). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/acculturation-experiences-south-korean/docview/2247080336/se-2?accountid=15017
Liu, T., Wong, Y. J., & Tsai, P. C. (2016). Conditional mediation models of intersecting identities among female Asian international students. The Counseling Psychologist, 44, 411-441. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0011000016637200
Park, H., Lee, M. J., Choi, G. Y., & Zepernick, J. S. (2017). Challenges and coping strategies of East Asian graduate students in the United States. International Social Work, 60, 733-749. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020872816655864
Park, K., & Shahiri, H. (2015). Over-Education and Job Mobility among Young Korean Female Graduates. Asian Women, 31, 55-78. http://www.e-asianwomen.org/xml/04994/04994.pdf
Petersen, W. (1966, January 6). Success story, Japanese-American style. New York Times Magazine. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/01/09/356013502.html?pageNumber=180
Shim, Y. H. (2001). Feminism and the discourse of sexuality in Korea: Continuities and changes. Human Studies, 24, 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010775332420
Stop AAPI Hate. (2021). “Stop AAPI hate national report.” https://stopaapihate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-210316.pdf
Yeh, C. J., & Inose, M. (2003). International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 16, 15-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951507031000114058
Yoon, H., & Kim, H. (2018). Career–family strategies and spatial mobility among South Korean women scholars. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 27, 101-120. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0117196818760863
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of International Students
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.