The vicious cycle of racism, low self-efficacy, and dependency: First generation immigrants’ maternal involvement in their children’s education in the context of South Korea

Abstract

[Purpose] This study intends to understand the characteristics of first generation immigrant mothers’ involvement in their interracial children’s education in South Korea.
 [Methods] Semi-structured interview was adopted as a principal data collection method, which included twenty first immigrants and ten native Koreans related tothem.Allresidedinaruralcountywhichwasselectedasacaseforthefieldwork.
 [Results] In contrast to the popular stereotype of immigrant mothers and their families-that they are uninterested in their children’s education-most mothers showed high aspirations and expectations regarding their children’s education. However, as in previous studies, not all of the high maternal aspirations are actualized through their daily involvement in their children’s education. This disconnect between aspirations and behavior has not yet been explained substantially in the literature: that is, a vicious cycle of the low self-efficacy, dependency, limited maternal involvement in their children, and the ensuing misunderstandings of those mothers.
 [Conclusion] Through this study, it can be confirmed that in order to improve the quality of immigrant mothers’ maternal involvement in their children’s education, breaking the vicious cycle caused by the prejudice and misunderstanding of immigrant mothers in Korean society and widespread racial discrimination is the top priority.