Exploring the interplay of migrant entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence and social integration of marriage migrant women in South Korea

Abstract

This research explores the role of entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence in the social integration of female marriage migrants who are entrepreneurs in South Korea. A qualitative research design was employed to gather data from 32 female marriage migrant entrepreneurs in South Korea through snowball sampling. The main findings revealed that they encountered enormous challenges at various stages of their entrepreneurship, but emotional intelligence played an essential role in their business success. This study demonstrates that entrepreneurship, with the help of emotional intelligence, enables marriage migrants to integrate socially into the host country. This research examines a unique aspect of migrants as it captures hidden realities, and presents implications and future directions for many stakeholders. The findings of this research can serve as a reference to help resolve the problems of migrant entrepreneurs and integration issues of migrant women in similar contexts.