Having It All: Understanding Work and Family Dynamics in Contemporary Korea

Educational attainment has increased remarkably for both men and women in Korea over the past several decades. However, women’s employment patterns continue to display an M-shaped curve, and marriage and fertility rates steadily decline. Given the complex interplay between social progress and persistent gendered expectations surrounding work and family, Korea presents a unique and important case for examining how these factors shape individual’s decisions on work and family life. In this talk, I will begin by looking at gender differences in employment trends by marital status. I will then explore how Korean women navigate highly gender-inegalitarian workplaces and family norms drawing on data from in-depth interviews with highly educated women with professional occupations. Focusing on women in their 30s to 40s with young children, this study aims to disentangle the complex dynamics of work and family. While confirming several established theories, the analysis also highlights themes distinctive to the Korean context, including internalized child care responsibility prioritization, the recognition of career progress barriers, and the double-edged nature of parental leave. Confronting these work-family realities, the findings reveal how women actively navigate and negotiate their work and family pathways, offering important insights for policy and social change.   

Hyeyoung Woo is a Professor and Chair of Sociology and the Director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University (PSU) in Oregon. Her research focuses on status attainment in education, work, and family, and how these factors influence health and well-being over the life course. Her current project explores the interplay between work and family and its long-term health consequences for women in Korea. Additionally, Woo is actively involved in academic associations and Korean and Asian American communities. She has held many leadership positions at the American Sociological Association, the Pacific Sociological Association, and the Association of Korean Sociologists in America. She also worked as co-editor of Sociological Perspectives. Woo has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to research and community engagement. She is a two-time recipient of the Outstanding Scientific Researcher Award from the Sigma Xi Columbia-Willamette Chapter, first in 2015 and again in 2024. In recognition of her dedication to diversity and inclusion on campus, she was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award at the President’s Diversity Awards at PSU in 2021.