A Qualitative Case Study on Choosing Elementary Schools for the Children of Highly Educated Married Immigrant Women from China

Abstract

This study aims to understand the experiences of highly educated married immigrant women from China, who hold a master's degree or higher, when selecting an elementary school for their children and to explore the significance of that experience. This study included eight participants, all of whom were married immigrant women who had resided in Korea for a minimum of five years. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, which were conducted over approximately one year, from June 2022 to August 2023. The study was approached as a case study. As a result of this study, the similarities between the cases were “choices based on charactercentered education and cultural convergence”, “choices for the child's future and career”, and “choices influenced by the primary caregiver's use of bilingualism”. The differences observed in the cases appeared in “choices based on the balance between global education ideals and economic realities”, “choices based on specialized curriculum content”, and “choices based on connections to higher-level schools”. This study is important, as it underscores the need to conduct various research initiatives on multinational immigrant women and their children. These findings suggest that the study can contribute to the development of multicultural policies that are grounded in the actual experiences and critical awareness of married Chinese immigrant women, who constitute a substantial part of Korean society.