Bi-ethnic Socialization of Marriage Migrant Women from Vietnam: The Five Practices at the Intersection of Hierarchies

Abstract

This paper explored the marriage migrant mothers’ experiences of parenting bi-ethnic children in South Korea based on the concepts of ethnic socialization and intersectionality. We analyzed in-depth interviews of 22 marriage migrant women from Vietnam residing in the capital region of South Korea. They had at least one child whose biological father is Korean. Children were 5 years old or older, attending preschool or elementary school. Five types of bi-ethnic socialization strategies were identified, which provide portraits of different situations in which marriage migrant women were placed. The five strategies that emerged from the data were 1) “Natural practice of bi-ethnic socialization” including two heterogeneous groups, “Coexistence of two cultures” and “Mixture of two cultures”, 2) “Active practice of bi-ethnic socialization”, 3) “Struggling practice of bi-ethnic socialization”, 4) “Silence on bi-ethnic socialization”, and 5) “Suppressed bi-ethnic socialization”. The strategies of bi-ethnic socialization that marriage migrant women chose to raise their children reflected personal perceptions of Korean society and individual ethnic identity formed within Korean society. This study complements existing research on ethnic socialization by examining how ethnic socialization practices are shaped by multiple contexts marriage migrant women embedded in Korean society.