• International Area Studies Review
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.145-167
• /
• 2009

This study aims to examine attitudes of Korean workers towards foreign workers and predictors of their attitudes. The data for this study come from a survey conducted among 500 Korean workers employed at the companies which also hire foreign workers in Gyeonggi and Incheon areas. The findings reveal that a little more than half of Korean workers agree to give foreign workers the same labor rights as Korean workers and to allow them to bring their family members into Korea while a little less than half of them do not agree to grant residentship or citizenship to foreign workers. Attitudes towards foreign workers tend to be favorable with increase in perception of multiculturalism, period of working experience with foreign workers and education, and with decrease in feeling of threat from foreign workers.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.147-168
• /
• 2007

The objective of this study is to examine the studies of foreign workers in Korea at a level of meta-analysis focusing on their subjects and methodology. Over the last 15 years, studies of foreign workers have diversified subjects and refined methodology reflecting major characteristics of migration patterns including a rapid increase in number, large populations of illegal sojourners, a majority low-skilled young male workers from less developed countries, and an active role of migrant-support NGOs. Nevertheless, the studies have shown problems such as a higher ratio of macroscopic discussions, overemphasis on social problematic issues and a tendency towards descriptive analysis. Methodologically, they have also revealed an inactive use of empirical and quantitative data, lack of representativeness of sample and disregard of an importance of language in the study of foreigners. Based on the analysis, this study proposes strategies to enhance researches of foreign workers in Korea.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• /
• v.34
• /
• pp.18.1-18.12
• /
• 2022

Background: Little attention has been paid to the relationship between perceived discrimination and self-rated health (SRH) among foreign workers in Korea. Transnational ties with the home country are known to be critical among immigrants, as they allow the maintenance of social networks and support. Nonetheless, as far as we know, no studies have examined the impact of transnational ties on SRH itself and the relationship between perceived discrimination and SRH, which the current study tries to examine. Methods: Logistic regression analyses were conducted using the 2013 Survey on Living Conditions of Foreign Workers in Korea. Adult foreign workers from different Asian countries (n = 1,370) participated in this study. The dependent variable was good SRH and the independent variable was perceived discrimination. Transnational ties with the home country, as a moderating variable, was categorized into broad (i.e., contacting family members in the home country) vs. narrow types (i.e., visiting the home country). Results: Foreign workers who perceived discrimination had a lower rate of good SRH than those who did not perceive discrimination. Broad social transnational ties moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and SRH; narrow social transnational ties did not. Conclusions: In line with previous studies, an association was found between perceived discrimination and SRH. Broad social transnational ties can be a good source of social support and buffer against the distress of perceived discrimination.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
• /
• 2023.11a
• /
• pp.251-252
• /
• 2023

Compared to other industries the construction industry experiences more casualties and property damage due to safety accidents. One of the reasons is the increasing number of foreign workers. For this reason, past studies have found that foreign workers at construction sites are more exposed to safety accidents than non-foreign workers. Nevertheless the proportion of foreign workers involved in safety accidents at construction sites is increasing, and there has been a lack of research to predict the risk of safety accidents at construction sites. Additionally, realistic safety management is lacking due to a lack of safety accident risk prediction research. Therefore, in this study, we would like to propose basic research that proposes an AI-based safety accident prediction model framework for predicting safety accidents of foreign workers at construction sites. The framework and results of this study will contribute to reducing and preventing the risk of safety accidents for foreign workers through risk prediction for safety management of foreign workers at construction sites.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.31
• /
• pp.395-414
• /
• 2013

EPS-TOPIK is a test of Korean proficiency which is enforced at the level of Korean government for the selection of competent foreign workers. Therefore, it must ensure validity and reliability, and practicability as a language assessment tool. For seeking a way of developing EPS-TOPIK, in this paper, the current state of EPS-TOPIK was investigated based upon the materials published by the Korean government, and the questions of EPS-TOPIK were analysed. Together with this, newspaper articles both in Korea and in foreign countries were also analyzed, and the directors of the EPS center abroad were interviewed. According to the survey results, as expected, the local environment of Korean education is poor in a number of ways to improve the Korean communication skills of foreign workers, as well as to prepare the EPS-TOPIK. To improve the efficiency of the EPS-TOPIK and to enhance the Korean communication skills of foreign workers, the Korean language institutions including the King Sejong Institute, which are in charge of the Korean language education should closely cooperate with the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, which is responsible for all of the influx of foreign workers.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.25-31
• /
• 2024

The purpose of this study is to propose a model development framework to predict the risk of safety accidents for foreign workers based on a deep learning algorithm for systematic safety management of foreign workers in the construction industry. Many past studies have shown that foreign workers working at construction sites are relatively more vulnerable to safety accidents than non-foreign workers, but quantitative research on the risk of safety accidents among foreign workers working at construction sites is lacking. Furthermore, due to a lack of predictive research on safety accidents, realistic and systematic safety management for foreign workers is not possible. Therefore, in order to complement this, this study proposes a deep learning algorithm-based model that collects, analyzes, and predicts safety accident data occurring at construction sites for systematic safety management of foreign workers at construction sites. The results and framework of this study can be used to analyze and predict various safety accident risks that occur at construction sites, and ultimately can serve as an important guideline for safety management of foreign workers at construction sites.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.38-50
• /
• 2011

As the rate of foreign workers increasing, the rates of their children are rising, as well. The children's native countries vary from Japan, China to Indonesia, and difficulty of learning is expected in their entering the regular education due to the differences in the contents and curriculum they had learnt. This study analyzed the science textbooks of five Asian elementary schools including Korea, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Iran-in diversified sides focusing on the content of earth science, for the children of foreign workers. The characteristics of the elementary science textbooks of the subject countries were compared in seven criteria-the rate of earth science in the textbooks, how units are arranged, whether the earth science contents are included, the contents highly related to their socio-cultural traits, photographs, scientific inquiries, and test items. The textbooks showed numerous differences with their own characteristics, and it is expected that the children of foreign workers would face difficulties in studies taking parts in the Korean formal education. Hereupon, this study proposes the needs of development of sub-materials for the children of foreign workers adapting to schools, and reinforcement of educating teachers for understanding children, with a national plan for the children excluded from education due to problems such as an illegal residence.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.129-157
• /
• 2011

This study attempts to analyze the effect of level of education on the attitudes toward immigrants or foreign workers. More specifically, we examine whether there is significant difference in the effects of the level of education and global mind on the attitude among three East Asian countries (South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan), controlling other socio-demographic factors in relation to increase in immigrants and foreign workers. Using EASS data, we employs sequential logit model to the general attitudes toward immigrant workers into the weighted sum of transition probability within each educational level. One major finding is that there is clear and significant difference in the relationship between the level of education and the attitudes toward foreign workers among three countries. In general, while Japanese and Taiwanese tend to have more open-minded attitudes toward foreign workers as they have higher level of education, Koreans are opposite case that they are little bit more hostile toward to foreign workers with higher level of education. Especially, there is strong positive effect of education on the attitude in Taiwanese case. Another finding is that while there is strong resistance against increase in migrant population in Korea and Taiwan, Japanese respondents want current level of foreign population to remain in the similar level. Our findings imply that there is no one converging pattern of relationship between the level of education and the positive attitudes toward foreign workers which can be applied to any country. Therefore, this paper suggests that unique political, social, and cultural characteristics of each country should be considered to better understand the effect of education on the attitude toward immigrants and foreign workers. Also, we conclude that systematic comparative-demographic analyses should be utilized to provide more comprehensive picture of how difference in educational level affects the attitude toward immigrants and foreign workers.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.331-357
• /
• 2017

In this study, we explored the degree to which foreign workers in Korea are satisfied with their lives. We examined the extent of the respondents'educational mismatch, their experiences of discrimination, and the empowerment influence on their degree of life satisfaction. Based on this, we developed practical implications to improve foreign workers'life satisfaction in the country. The results show that life satisfaction significantly rises as the respondents'educational credentials increasingly match with the criteria for their respective jobs, given that they have not experienced discrimination and their empowerment level is high. Based on these outcomes, we proposed the following important policy measures: mediation and diminishing educational mismatch during job searches, establishing legal and institutional frameworks to prevent discrimination, and placing greater emphasis on efforts to improve foreign workers'empowerment. We expect our findings to provide an important empirical basis for efforts to facilitate foreign workers'integration into Korean society. This study is the first attempt to apply concepts such as foreign workers'empowerment and educational mismatch -as defined by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (OECD PIAAC) -to foreign workers in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
• /
• 2010.05b
• /
• pp.95-97
• /
• 2010

Current trends in the Korean construction industry, including the aging of the workforce, a lack of new Korean construction workers, and an inflow of unskilled foreign labor, have caused a range of problems, including quality deterioration, reduced productivity, insufficient understanding of the function and difficulties in communication, to name a few. Yet while countermeasures to these problems should be based on accurate and diverse fundamental data, including the current status of demand and supply of domestic and foreign construction workers, the perception of construction workers, studies on these questions have, thus far, been scarce. For these reasons, this study was conducted using a questionnaire for managers and workers on construction sites, to secure fundamental data relating to construction workers. The findings of the survey showed that it is urgent to prepare measures to educate, train and foster human resources, considering the aging of the construction workforce and the lack of an inflow of new construction workers.