KOREAN STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO PURSUE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Benhee Lee May, 2017 Examining Committee Members: Frank Farley, Dissertation Chair, Psychological Studies in Education Joseph DuCette, Psychological Studies in Education Avi Kaplan, Psycholgoical Studies in Education Steven Gross, External Member, Policy, Organizational & Leadership Studies © by 2017 Benhee Lee All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the motivation of South Korean college students who come to the United States to study. Does the motivation of these students differ based on their perceptions of values for pursuing higher education? The focus of this study is on what Korean students value in their decision-making. Thus, their perceptions of educational values are presumably influenced by their societal and cultural context. In this study, an expectancy-value perspective is employed to investigate in depth the intentions of the Korean students. In addition, personality cannot be excluded from decision-making. To make the decision, some South Korean students may take high risks; thus, the Type-T personality trait is examined. A mixed-methods design, both quantitative and qualitative, was applied. A survey in the quantitative study explored motivation factors for pursuing college education in the United States, for attaining well- being in a new environment, and for taking risks. To investigate the intentions and decision-making of Korean students, in-depth individual interviews in the qualitative study explored how they perceive a higher education in the United States, whether the tendency of public opinion in South Korea influenced their decision to study in the United States, and what they expect from their choice in the future. The findings have implications for future research and for considering whether Korean “education fever” is on the right track in terms of psychological well-being. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my best friend and mother, Maeja Choi who is the strong woman from which I came. She has been a constant source to inspire me to work hard for the things that I aspire to accomplish. I have received endless love, support, and sacrifices from her throughout my life. I am so lucky to have you as my mother. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge and thank those who played a pivotal role in this process. Without their help, I could not get to this point. I would especially like to thank my committee members who were more than generous with their expertise and precious time. Thank you to Dr. Farley, Dr. DuCette, Dr. Avi, and Dr. Gross for countless hours of reflecting reading and encouraging me and for agreeing to serve on my committee. A special thanks to Dr. Farley, committee chair, for his knowledge, enthusiasm, encouragement and countless patience throughout the entire process. It was a great honorable experience for me to see a knowledgeable expert and beautiful human being. To my second committee member, Dr. DuCette, I really want to express my sincere gratitude. I was impressed by his statistical brilliance and willingness to teach statistics to me, which made incredible contributions to my success. Sometimes the questions I brought to him probably were trivial or meaningless, but he has always been there for me. My third committee member, Dr. Kaplan, showed me a new world. I cried with joy when I stayed up nights to prepare for his classes. He stimulated my intellectual curiosity and encouraged me to continue to study this topic for my dissertation. I am grateful for his insightful feedback and suggestions during this process. v Thanks to my fourth committee member, Dr. Gross for his kindness, encouragement, and thoughtful feedback. He was willing to share his ideas for this study despite the fact that he was out of the states. I am so thankful to have such a helpful committee of experts. I must give a special thank you to Korean participants in this study. Through their cooperation, I was able to achieve my dream. And thanks to all my family, friends, and colleagues who took this journey with me. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to obtain a PhD. at Temple University. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGUES ............................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 Phenonmenon of the Study ......................................................................................2 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................5 Research Question ...................................................................................................7 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................8 Shaping the Value of Educaiton ..............................................................................8 Human Capital .............................................................................................8 The Self ......................................................................................................11 Expectancy-Value Theory .....................................................................................17 Expectancy for Success..............................................................................21 Academic Achievement .............................................................................22 Well-being..............................................................................................................24 The Type-T Personality .........................................................................................25 vii 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...............................................................................28 Research Question .................................................................................................28 Quantitative Research Design ................................................................................29 Participants and Procedure .........................................................................29 Qualitative Research Design ..................................................................................33 Participants and Procedure .........................................................................34 Pilot Testing ...........................................................................................................36 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................33 Qunatitative Analysis .................................................................................37 Qualitative Analysis ...................................................................................38 My Positionality ...................................................................................40 Trustworthiness ....................................................................................42 4. RESULTS Introduction ............................................................................................................44 Participant Characteristics ...............................................................................44 Description of the Criterion and Predictor Variables ............................................50 Instruments .............................................................................................................50 The Valuing of Education Scale (VOE) ....................................................50 The Type-T Personality .............................................................................50 Flourishing Scale .......................................................................................51 Results of Quantitative Analysis ............................................................................51 Descriptive Data.........................................................................................52 One-Way ANOVA with Repeated Measures ............................................52 viii Paired Samples T-Tests..............................................................................52 Multivariate Analysis of Variance .............................................................53 Correlations ................................................................................................55 Factor Analysis ..........................................................................................56 Results of Qualitative Analysis ..............................................................................58 Demographical Profiles