African migrant men working in South Korea are disproportionately harmed by societal pressures to conform to gender norms, according to a new study co-authored by Keough School sociologist Sharon Yoon.

The study which was published in Gender, Work & Organization, detailed the experiences of men who work in physically demanding and low-paying jobs. Yoon co-authored the study with Rita Udor, a gender, migration and development expert at the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies in Ghana.

Yoon said she and Udor found that multiple forces at the structural, interpersonal and individual levels work together as a system of oppression, hampering men's individual attitudes toward self-care and self-efficacy. All of these forces are affected by how the men in question think about their masculinity and by how their employers and communities view it.

“Our research demonstrates how migrant men become trapped by their desires to perform their masculine worth as reliable wage laborers, even at the cost of their physical and emotional well-being,” said Yoon, associate professor of Korean studies at the Keough School. “While past studies on undocumented migrant workers in South Korea have highlighted their heightened exposure to institutional violence, we shed light on how structural forces also bleed into the private spaces of everyday life, shaping the intimate relationships and personal desires of marginalized men themselves.”

Key findings document struggles migrant men face

At the structural level, economic changes in recent decades have pushed rural men from Sub-Saharan Africa to migrate in search of jobs, Yoon said. South Korea, which needs workers for construction and manufacturing, has been a popular destination. Many men who migrate are pressured to send remittances to family members in their home countries because of poor economic conditions and a lack of employment opportunities.

At the institutional level, these migrant workers have faced racial discrimination in the host country, Yoon said. The study found that managers gave Asian migrant workers the highest-paying jobs and reserved the more dangerous jobs for African men. And while doing so, the managers praised African workers for their physical prowess, Yoon said, reflecting racial stereotypes of Black men.

Within African migrant communities, men struggled to find avenues to express their vulnerabilities and seek medical and psychological help.

At the interpersonal level, Yoon said, African migrant men internalized the pressure to act as responsible fathers and husbands and continued to work even in the most hazardous environments One man who was interviewed for the study developed lung issues after being exposed to toxic chemicals, yet kept working because he wanted to make money to send home.

Within African migrant communities, Yoon said men struggled to find avenues to express their vulnerabilities and seek medical and psychological help. Even though many suffered physical injuries and mental health issues, men interviewed for the study said they felt pressured to keep working because of the financial and institutional barriers they faced in receiving medical assistance. This created serious consequences: Of the approximately 30 men interviewed for the study, four died within two years, and others fell into substance abuse.

New insights identify obstacles to human flourishing

The study brings new insights to the study of hegemonic masculinity, a topic frequently researched by gender scholars. Hegemonic masculinity is a social construct that idealizes gendered norms and behaviors such as strength, aggression, competitiveness and a suppression of one’s emotions.

In recent years, scholars who study hegemonic masculinity have focused on the experiences of male migrant workers trying to make a living in a globalized economy.  The latest study makes a contribution to the field by providing evidence documenting marginalized men's struggles in everyday life. The research received funding from the Keough School and its Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, of which Yoon is a faculty fellow. She is also a fellow in the school’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights and Pulte Institute for Global Development.

“This study sheds light on the more invisible forces of migrant men’s oppression by demonstrating how neoliberal sentimentalities of self-responsibility harm Black bodies."

The study is the latest in a series examining the experience of African migrant workers in South Korea. A previous study explored the everyday racism that Africans in South Korea face, and forthcoming research will analyze the role of the church in the migrant community and migrant men’s marital relationships.

The research also builds upon Yoon’s work as an ethnographer. She illuminates how broader patterns in labor markets, migration policies and access to resources influence people’s abilities to thrive economically, socially and politically. Yoon wants her work to help identify barriers to human dignity and flourishing.

“This study sheds light on the more invisible forces of migrant men’s oppression by demonstrating how neoliberal sentimentalities of self-responsibility harm Black bodies,” Yoon said. “We show how even the effort to become ‘good’ men by acting as responsible financial providers can ultimately cause devastating emotional and physical harm to marginalized men. I want policymakers and practitioners to use these findings to prioritize the human dignity of marginalized migrant communities, creating opportunities for vulnerable workers to adapt and thrive.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on October 28, 2024.