Access, agency and ascent: a case study of how South Korean students navigate their educational choices for advancing their career development

2017-07-24South Korean college students face substantial familial, financial, peer and societal challenges for pursuing their educational pathways and career advancement. Currently, America has venerated the high-stakes, standardized test scores of East Asian students as a panacea for the nation’s public education challenges. The objective of this case study was to more closely examine the undergraduate and career development experiences of South Korean university students. This endeavor was an evaluation model employing Clark and Estes (2008) Knowledge, Motivation and Organization (KMO) gap analysis methodology and utilizing a literature review, a preliminary online survey and one-on-one interviews with South Korean undergraduate students. The object of this case study was to assess the catalysts or obstacles to South Korean student’s educational pathways and career development grounded in the KMO structure. This undertaking uncovers numerous basics relating to undergraduate experiences in all three areas, including expectancy-value theory, goal orientation, and intrinsic motivation and student self- efficacy, and organizational impediments. The study’s discoveries are limited to the undergraduates who agreed to participate in this analysis. Given the small sample size, additional research is suggested, as the outcomes are not generalizable to the entire population of South Korean undergraduate students. Centered on the findings, in conjunction with the review of literature, however, this study suggests active professional development training for faculty and closer collaboration with undergraduate students to breakdown organizational barriers in order to better meet and serve the needs of the primary stakeholders