Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Cosmic Hum]

hmmm...guess someone didn't like my take on the subject.
damn touchy subject.

[kabrams]

[soyoungmikey]

It's pretty simple folks. Having heard this from a few recruiters, on top of using common sense, it's got to do with not wanting to look at male teachers' ugly muggs. And everyday or whenever they can look at *beep* and ass. Simple as pie folks. Thread closed.

[edwardcatflap]

[Adventurer]

Well, there are far more men teaching in Korea than vice versa.
At my job, the vast majority of instructors are male. There are many females, but they don't even amount to half the staff at our institution. At hagwons, there is often a demand for female teachers, but there are exceptions. Some female bosses may not want other females. One friend said his boss didn't like female employees, and she felt better having male employees.

[World Traveler]

[Troglodyte]

Jobs that ask specifically for gyopos are usually offering less. They often want a part timer who they assume is fluent in Korean and English.

The F visa jobs are often also part time but if they're full time they don't usually offer accommodation. They want someone who they can pay basically the same way they pay a Korean. They don't want the hassle of visa and such.

The places that ask specifically for female teachers... it's marketing. They'll get more customers with a female teacher. Just like in a lot of other service industries. In the teaching business, parents (moms) think that a woman teacher will be more nurturing. If it's adult classes, the women like to talk with another woman. The men like to talk with women. If it's an in-company course or a business English course, and the teachers isn't being hired because he/she has relevant experience, then.... it comes down to two things. ( . )( . ) Basically the school wants to hire someone who's easy on the eyes. Is it fair? No. Is it unique to Korea? No. Does it really hurt your job prospects much as a guy? No. There are way more guys teaching English here than women. Some of the schools might WANT a woman teacher, but if they aren't offering anything above average, they'll take what they can get.

I do think that the idea of a woman being more easily pushed around might be a factor (in the minds of many male Korean hogwon owners) but not a big factor. There are also a lot of women owners. I've probably worked for as many women hogwon owners as men. Even when it was a couple who owned the school, it was usually the wife who was running it. From talking to a lot of hogwon owners (not ones that I worked at) I think that most owners DO want someone who is fresh off the boat and doesn't speak Korean because they are seen as more easily manipulated since they don't know anything about Korean law or culture. So, i'm very sure that bosses think about who's going to be easiest to handle, but I don't think it's the main reason that they want to hire women. As a side note, they also have forums for hogwon owners (much like Dave's) where they compare notes and b!tch about problematic teachers. So I'm quite sure that most of them who have been in the game for a while know that a female teacher isn't necessarily going to be any more easily manipulated than a man.

[Soldier]

In the west there are far more requirements to hire females, as well as minorities, aborigionals, and persons with disabilities. There are legal obligations to do so. Likewise here, I heard on the news that there are legal obligations to increase the female representation of the workforce. In Canada, the goal is 50% or more, all levels, all occupations. Many school and university ads read like this:

" No phone calls please. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. As we value diversity, we strongly encourage applications from women, African Canadians, Aborigionals, and persons with disabilities."

There is nothing at all to confirm interest in hiring able body white males.

Furthermore, most employers have targets, as they do here. Check the local Korean news from time to time, especially the political sections. There is a mandate from Park Kun Hee's term to increase representation of females.

That said, males do get hired in mass numbers. Also, in the public school system, there is a great representation of non cacuasion teachers in the foreign teacher pool, not just Korean Canadians/Americans either. Lot's of black, aboriginal, asian, latino, and white teachers, male and female.

I think in the future, the ESL pool will be completely diverse, as the West is so.

[nautilus]

[Hamburgs_MecGee]

[Wiltern]

[Savant]

1) Women are more marketable to schools; except, parents probably don't who their next child's teacher would be.
2) Women are more appealing (to look at); except, that's not the case with some schools I've worked at.
3) Women are easier to exploit i.e. working hours, pension, health insurance, pay etc. Could be said for some just graduated men but I've seen more experienced women less likely to stand up to schools on contractual issues.

[Squire]

I'm curious, what are the long term prospects of a woman teaching ESL? What happens when a woman hits their 40s? In fairness if a woman takes care of herself and is good looking to begin with she could look good right up to retirement age (early retirement at that, if they play their cards right). Are schools really interested in the nurture aspect, or is mostly just down to having a pretty young girl around?

The way I see it ESL could be a great career choice for an attractive young woman who is conscious of her value and prepared to get the right qualifications to set herself up in the long term. As is still the case, the man is expected to be the main breadwinner, so if a female can make good money with fewer hours than a man and marry a guy making more than she does she can be set up for a pretty good lifestyle without having to worry too much about her long term employment potential.

An attractive female with teaching certification, some knowledge of the ESL industry and who marries well could be well set up for life. I know that probably sounds old fashioned and sexist, but is it not the case?

I suppose the only way we can drive them out of the industry is showing them pictures of their dog back home to make them homesick and ensure they leave at the end of their contract

[Who's Your Daddy?]

I have never met a long term female foreigner here. I think 3 years is the longest timer I've met.

[Skippy]