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“I Embrace My Ashes”: North Korean Migrants Learning About Entrepreneurship From Failure, Jinhee Choi, Esther Prins

Adult Education Research Conference

Migrants’ workplace experiences in their host society shape their social adjustment, yet how migrants learn from failures is under-investigated. This study examined how North Korean migrants in South Korea sought to learn from failures in their workplaces and everyday life. The paper draws on nine months of ethnographic research in South Korean social enterprises (restaurants, cafes) that employ North Korean migrants. Data sources include informal conversations and loosely structured interviews with five purposefully selected women who started, or planned to start, their own enterprise. The findings revealed that migrants experienced failure in five inter-related spheres: financial, relational, physical, psychological, and …