Discussion
This study is of important value in that it explores various cultural differences experienced by migrant women who have migrated to Korea and reveals the difficulties, discrimination experiences, and the types of coping they show in such situations within the actual socio-cultural context. In particular, it is considered to have practical value in that it provides policy information necessary for multicultural phenomena in Korean society.
In this study, through phenomenological research methods, experiences related to cultural conflicts experienced by immigrant women with Korean jobs were explored, and three types of adaptation were derived for them to cope with their problems. As a result, it was found that conflicts and discrimination were experienced in various aspects such as identity, communication, social situation, daily life, work, etc. In addition, as a result of analyzing the coping types of immigrant women, adaptive, passive, and evasive types were found. These findings are discussed in more detail in this section.
Cultural differences reported by female immigrants while working in Korea were similar to those reported in previous studies on immigrants (Heo & Kim, 2019; Kim, 2018; Ra et al., 2019). However, the results of this study showed that the selective application strategy of Korean culture had a greater influence on adaptation than the one-sided assimilation of mainstream culture proposed by existing studies. In addition, as previous studies have shown, the characteristics that immigrant women should have two identities that migrants and natives should have were reflected (Kang, 2021; Lee et al., 2021). Instead of choosing between the two groups, they were found to selectively share each identity according to their situation and context.
In particular, although linguistic communication was not easy for adaptive participants, they used specific languages to adequately demonstrate their identity in a given cultural situation. The results of these studies differ slightly from previous studies, and it was found that for them to settle well in Korean society, a communication method that combines two identities must be developed.
Participants experienced cultural differences in political ideology and economic systems. Most of the participants were aware of the realistic situation that they could only work in poor jobs such as the 3D job field due to the difference in economic level with Korea (Kim et al., 2022). In particular, it was recognized that labor regulations such as working hours and wages were very different between the two cultures. In terms of interpersonal relationships, it was found that they experienced a cultural shock in that Korean culture showed more hierarchical and authoritative characteristics. Under these circumstances, they did not unconditionally favor the Korean economic system and forcing them to unilaterally assimilate into it certainly did not improve their adaptability
Immigrant women expect some positive treatment from Korean society under the consciousness that Koreans are of the same nationality as themselves, but in the reality of Korean society, they experience relatively great shock because they treat them as other groups. In this regard, if Korean society wants to accept them as equal members and create a harmonious society, various measures are needed to reduce prejudice and discrimination against them from native Koreans and institutional issues must be reformed.
In this way, immigrant women experience various difficulties and discrimination while living in Korean society, and among them, there were generally types that could not adapt. For example, passive or evasive type immigrant women often lost their original purpose while living in Korean society. In terms of coping methods, they use strategies in a somewhat material-seeking manner, unlike active coping methods to escape difficulties and discrimination.
On the other hand, adaptive immigrant women were showing an attitude of acknowledging the cultural differences they faced, and the resulting conflicts were resolved constructively. They actively understood and accepted Korean culture and lived their lives at the same time. These results can be said to show the need for immigrant women to dominantly solve their problems to live a properly adapted life in Korea. This coping method can be said to be a characteristic that most immigrants require to adapt to mainstream culture.
In addition, Korean society should prepare a cultural adaptation system that reflects their cultural characteristics to help multicultural immigrants adapt (Chang, 2019; Kim et al., 2022; Ward et al., 2020). For example, some parts of Korea have developed and implemented two-way cultural exchange programs to help immigrant women adapt to their marriage. If after-school programs for the education of children from multicultural families and foreign workers are also carried out in this way, they must be developed and implemented for ”passive” and ”evasive” immigrant women in the future.
Based on these results, it is desirable to construct a program that can develop a kind of adaptability shown by adaptive women (Kim et al., 2022; Lee et al., 2021). First, it is important to create a social atmosphere in which immigrant women can accept and reveal their identity as immigrants. This can sometimes lead to inappropriate discrimination, but hiding their identity is not the best way to eliminate discrimination. Instead, a program is needed to properly recognize the advantages and disadvantages of dual identity and to help them come up with active solutions in a given situation.
Second, there is a need for a program to help develop code necessary for mutual communication. Immigrant women use code that intersects two modules of their native language and Korean language in their language use. These native/Korean codes work as a positive adaptation tool, but they can also worsen interpersonal relationships. Therefore, in this study, ’passive’ and ’evasive’ immigrant women tended to separate and grasp relationships with Koreans based on their mother tongue/Korean codes, while ’adaptive’ female immigrants emphasized codes that could unite people or workplace characteristics instead of their mother tongue/Korean codes. Therefore, it is necessary to help them develop communication codes suitable for a particular situation.
Third, for immigrant women to overcome cultural differences, they must go through the process of taking the lead in solving their problems and gaining the will to be skilled. Given the stable nature of culture, cultural adaptation is not just a matter of choice at the moment, but a skill that forms within long-term, stable patterns of behavior (Oh, 2020; Walton, 2020; Ward et al., 2020). Accordingly, immigrant women need to experience the process of strengthening their willingness to take the lead in solving their problems and increasing their adaptability while working in Korean society. In particular, to implement a system that can support their cultural adaptation, there is an urgent problem that native Koreans must first accept migrants socially and accept them as the same members. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop each communication support program necessary for migrants and natives.
Overall, the 10 immigrant women who participated in the study had somewhat diverse jobs, and most women in blue-collar jobs were found to have relatively many grievances. In contrast, both participants with a teacher’s job were adapting to Korean society quite well. It is judged that this may be due to the nature of their job. Thus, if future studies examine differences in adaptation according to occupations or the diversity of types of adaptation within occupations, such studies can contribute to understanding the various effects of occupations on cultural adaptation and individual differences.
In addition, although it was excluded at the request of the participants in this study, some migrant women were suffering from sexual harassment in the workplace due to their sexual status as women. In the Korean society where gender discrimination against women is prevalent, immigrant women were no exception. The gender discrimination experienced by immigrant women, who have a position as a minority group in Korean society, is even more serious in that it is closely related to their poor civil rights situation. Therefore, measures to solve these problems quickly need to be developed and carried out at the social level.
Furthermore, it is necessary to extensively study behavioral strategies in which migrants with various characteristics, such as Korean diaspora subjects, foreign workers, and international students living in Korea, adapt to Korean society (Chang, 2019; Heim & Kohrt, 2019; Shrikant, 2018). Furthermore, to understand multiculturalism, which will be the cornerstone of building a more ideal society in a Korean society that is changing into a multicultural society, research at the national level is needed and based on this movement, it is necessary to establish an appropriate social system and prepare policies.