International scholarship for social change? Re-contextualizing Global Korea Scholarship alumni’s perceptions of justice and diversity in South Korea

Abstract

This study examines South Korea’s international scholarship program based on responses to the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) alumni survey to find how the participants perceive the host country’s dimensions of justice and diversity. We employ the concept of justice in terms of redistribution, recognition, and representation. Analysis of GKS alumni perceptions of Korean society revealed that international mobility programs may provide positive and negative experiences for the participants depending on their positionality in terms of gender, ethnicity, and Korean language proficiency. Some had the exclusive opportunity to access global knowledge, skills, and networks. Others were exposed to unexpected misrepresentation and misframing while living and learning in the new society. We suggest the need for multidimensional policy discussions to consider both positive and negative outcomes of international scholarship programs and their potential to play a transformative role in global higher education.

Special Issue

This article is part of a special issue that uses our Global Korea Scholarship dataset. See other articles in the special issue here.

BibTeX citation

@article{hong_international_2021,
    title = {International Scholarship for Social Change? Re-contextualizing {Global Korea Scholarship} Alumni’s Perceptions of Diversity and Justice in {South Korea}},
    volume = {49},
    doi = {10.1111/polp.12435},
    number = {6},
    journal = {Politics & Policy},
    author = {Hong, Moon Suk and Jeong, Minjeong and Ayhan, Kadir Jun},
    year = {2021},
}