(ABSTRACT)
This study aims to identify the practical foundations of multicultural coexistence by analyzing the structure of mutual roles formed between international students and local residents within a local community. The research site is Geumjeo...
(ABSTRACT)
This study aims to identify the practical foundations of multicultural coexistence by analyzing the structure of mutual roles formed between international students and local residents within a local community. The research site is Geumjeong-gu, Busan, an area characterized by a high concentration of universities, residential zones, and commercial districts, where everyday contact between international students and residents frequently occurs. A quantitative survey was conducted with a total of 248 participants, including 128 international students and 120 local residents. The analysis employed various quantitative methods—descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, factor analysis, and cluster analysis—focusing on role perceptions, interaction structures, the balance between one-sided support and reciprocal exchange, and intergroup differences.
The results reveal a clear asymmetry in role perceptions and interaction experiences between international students and local residents. International students tended to evaluate their own contributions relatively highly across economic, cultural, social, and emotional domains and generally perceived their relationships with residents as reciprocal. In contrast, local residents recognized international students’ contributions only to a limited extent, and their actual interaction experiences remained at a very low level. Notably, the reciprocity index showed near balance among international students (+0.04), whereas residents recorded a negative value (−0.35), indicating the predominance of a one-sided support structure.
This asymmetry appears to be influenced by structural and institutional factors such as language barriers, a lack of shared spaces and opportunities for interaction, and the demographic composition of local residents, which is heavily skewed toward older age groups. In the absence of the equal-status contact conditions and cooperative task structures proposed by contact theory, the formation of bridging social capital becomes difficult, and the accumulation of mutual understanding and trust remains limited.
Accordingly, this study proposes several institutional strategies to foster reciprocal relationships rather than one-time encounters, including tandem-based language exchange programs, the establishment of multilingual support systems, the creation of shared interaction spaces jointly accessible to residents and international students, and the development of university–local government collaborative governance. These strategies are expected to function as key mechanisms for transforming one-sided support structures into reciprocal and sustainable exchange systems, thereby contributing to the practical realization of multicultural coexistence in Geumjeong-gu, Busan, and other local communities.