“Family or Career?” by Kristin Park

My mother became a flight operation officer in South Korea at a relatively young age, in her 20s. With her job, no mistakes could be made because she was literally in charge of the lives of everyone on an airplane. Like most people, she shared a healthy rivalry with a male co-worker. They were both excellent officers and had the same background, basically identical resumés. One day, my mother arrived at work to find that her co-worker had been promoted. Excited, she expected that she had been as well. The harsh reality was that no– only he had received the promotion. My mother says that this was one of the most consequential reasons she moved to the United States to start a new life. She would be happy to give up on her career if she could live a life with her husband and child, knowing that her daughter would grow to have unlimited opportunities. Though my family currently resides in South Korea due to a temporary fix, my mother has been sharing her experience with others who have encountered similar situations to support and define this injustice embedded in our society. 

"Family or career?" is a question Korean women must constantly ask themselves. Even if several statistical studies and research claim that patriarchy and hierarchy are no longer a central part of Korean culture, the ultimate question is, "Why do we still find women asking themselves this question?" As evidenced by The Economist's glass-ceiling index, the role and influence of South Korean women in the workforce have ranked 29th– out of 29 countries– for ten years in a row. The index reflects the still dominant collectivist attitude and lack of gender education in this country. 

In the past, a traditional Korean family was maintained under a strict power structure, with the patriarch at the apex. The family members had no choice but to be dependent on the patriarch. As the family representative, the patriarch would be responsible for creating stable living conditions and building societal connections. The succession of status could be achieved only through the relationship of the males of the family. This vertical power structure provided sons with methods for participating in social activities as the father exercised absolute power over the son. Legitimating the patriarch's control and oppression was guaranteed in times when Korea firmly held onto Confucian ideologies. 

Fortunately, Korean society has been unable to remain immune to the global trends of industrialization. Families have undergone many transformations in their value system and way of living. Thankfully, now I can live under a roof with a father and mother who share the same beliefs and support each other on all bases equally. Now, more people treat power gained without consent as nothing more than superficial authority, a mere title without "actual authority." Likewise, the patriarch's authority in the family can be exercised when the family structure and ideology support it and only within the family. Korea seems to be making significant progress in family and power; however, Korean society has yet to accept these trends and implement actual changes. 

Even though employment rates for women have increased since Korea joined the OECD, the gender ratio and the unmeasured differences within the workforce leave gender inequality in South Korea at profound levels. The shameful reality is that most South Korean employers hide behind numbers that show an increase of women in their workplace when most of these companies are ones that only value men. A country trying to change its existing discriminatory values to less discriminatory ones should not be acknowledged for doing what must be done. Gender inequality cannot be justified when there are visibly necessary adjustments that can and should be made. (621)