South Korean College Students, Gender, and the University Classroom

• In Event: Sociology of Sex and Gender Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 17. Youth, Education, and Socialization

Abstract

South Korea has experienced both tremendous economic development and demographic changes in the past few decades. In addition to being a case study for an emerging economy, the country has experienced a simultaneous increase in life expectancy and decrease in fertility rates (Lim, 2025). These two demographic shifts place enormous pressures on families in a culture where filial piety remains a cultural norm. In conjunction with these major economic and demographic shifts, South Korea remains officially at war with North Korea. The result of this is compulsory military service for all South Korean men before the age of 28. Recent public outcry has emerged from many of these men who see that this compulsory service has put them at an economic disadvantage compared to women who are not required to halt their educational or employment trajectories for military service (J.-b. Oh, 2025). Alongside other social pressures, such as #MeToo and feminist movements, there has emerged a cultural backlash against gender equality among young South Korean men. Our research question is as follows: How do South Korean college students interpret and negotiate the evolving gender climate? Utilizing data from in-depth interviews with 36 South Korean emerging adults, we document how gender plays out in one contemporary South Korean university. We argue that higher education is but one location of the gendered tensions that threaten to challenge South Korea’s future.

Authors

• Hyunjin Deborah Kwak, George Mason University Korea

• Lynnette G.. Leonard

• Shannon N. Davis, George Mason University