Korean Culture and the Reentry Motivations Of University-Graduated Women

Well-educated Korean women are returning to higher education in unprecedented numbers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the motivations of these women for returning to higher education. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 Korean full-time housewives aged 25 to 45 who already had a bachelor’s degree and who enrolled as students at a 4-year university, a graduate school, or a university-affiliated lifelong education center. The major finding of this study was that the reentry women returned to school to reclaim their identities as independent individuals. Respect for scholarship in Korean society made their return to school an acceptable escape from the boring and isolated life of full-time housewives.