Precarious privilege: identity (re)construction among international students returning to South Korea

Abstract

This study explores identity (re)construction of three South Korean early-study abroad (ESA) university students who returned to their homeland after studying in the US and acquiring a high level of proficiency in English. Inasmuch as educational migration is frequently viewed as an effective strategy for securing pathways to socioeconomic mobility, less is known about the specific conditions and practices that influence ESA students’ identity and socialization in a university setting, especially upon their return to their homeland. This study contributes to the discussion of ESA by demonstrating how they (re)constructed their transnational identities in their reintegration process and the role of their bilingual competence in this process. The findings of this study demonstrate the complex identity negotiation of elite transnational students in Korea, where Korean is both the national language and the dominant language, and where multiple ideologies on language and educational mobility exist. The findings also show the precarities experienced by elite bilingual returnees, illustrating how educational mobility and precarity are mutually constitutive in significant ways.