This study, focusing on overseas volunteering which appears to be a new phenomenon in Korean society especially women in their 20's and 30's whose participation is high, starts by investigating the factors attracting them as new agents of internationa...
This study, focusing on overseas volunteering which appears to be a new phenomenon in Korean society especially women in their 20's and 30's whose participation is high, starts by investigating the factors attracting them as new agents of international development. For this, we focused on the 'educational' experiences which the women in their 20's and 30's are having based on their expertise in the developing country as a KOICA overseas volunteer. This 'education' occurs when those women try direct intervention as a expert in the field in order to reduce poverty, and is a means to build their identification as a overseas volunteer.
In common discourse about Korea's ODA (Official development assistant) program, which is a unique relationship between recipient and donor, the detachment of overseas volunteers is regarded internationally as a technical cooperation for human resource development in a developing country, but domestically it is also seen as a measure to tackle the problem of unemployment among young people. Thus, the overseas volunteers are seen either as a 'quality human resource' equipped with expertise and passion and as 'a young man' growing to a global man of talent by the overseas experiences. The existence of the women in their 20's, who make up the majority of the volunteers, are rarely discussed. They are seen neither as an 'expert', who are mainly retired men in their 50's and 60's, or a 'young man' with potential to grow into a global man of talent. About the current discourse, it can be said that it neglects or does not fully describe those women's full experience including motivation to join, and their performances in the field and plans after coming back to Korea.
This study focused on the socio-economic condition of those women to figure out in what context they choose overseas volunteering and how they conduct the 'education' volunteering based on their expertise from their daily life. This is a connection with how Korea's ODA discourse structures those women's volunteering and daily life. This study investigates what kind of identity they establish, focusing on how their daily life and volunteering become meaningful out of Korea's image in developing country.
For this, this study interviewed in-depth those women in their 20's and 30's who had joined the overseas volunteering of KOICA, was a KOICA ODA intern, and also from conglomerate volunteering groups. This study also conducted literature research about education, overseas volunteering and women volunteering in ODA.
Belows are the contents and conclusions of this study.
First, that the group of oversees volunteers is composed largely of women in their 20's and 30's is the outcome of several facets of domestic and international interaction. The external factors of appearance of overseas volunteering stood by participation of global citizen, overseas volunteering encouraged by the government to alleviate unemployment among young people combined with the inner power of the change of the value that pursues flexible life freed from the traditional gender role and the instability of the young women in labor market. Also, the KOICA sectors reflecting gender job segregation phenomenon of Korean labor market is understood as a opportunity for those women to do overseas volunteering based on their expertise.
Second, by trying direct intervention using their educational expertise for the human resources development of the developing country, they establish their identity as a expert overseas volunteer. This 'expertise' is used not only on the education but a source to support the insufficient overseas volunteering system of KOICA.
Third, the overseas volunteering being done beyond the national state boundary positions those women in their 20's and 30's to the multi-leveled context where the issues of race, nationality, gender and class are closely interwoven. They experience the hierarchy and conflicts caused by the different races, gender and nationalities through the multi-leveled relation there and especially by the positionality they show to the developing country as a agent of the donor country, the conflict amplifies. Their experiences on the 'differences' are something that haven't been addressed in existing discourse on the overseas volunteering which emphasizes the global talents, but they are forming their identification as a global citizen through a meaningful change of the relation with selves, others, society and the nation.
This study implies the fact that KOICA overseas volunteers showed gendered subject by paying attention to the specific experiences of women volunteers in their 20's and 30's who were excluded from the existing discussion on overseas service. Gender equality in KOICA is not a matter of discourse and investigation, but it needs to be actively reflected in the institutional process of dispatching KOICA overseas volunteers groups. In addition, I focused on the process of global citizen formation of women volunteers in ttheir 20's and 30's who are making a transition to a new life beyond the norms of overseas volunteers in the Korean ODA discourse today. The feminist discussion should continue to search for ways to communicate these 20's and 30's women's experiences meaningfully.