A Study on an Understanding of Migrant Women's Empowerment and Their Perceptions Toward Participation in Park Management and Its Correlation

ABSTRACT

Background and objective: There have been an increasing number of migrant women in Korea. However, they are facing many difficulties in terms of language, psychology, poverty and many other things. Moreover, many mental health problems have emerged since COVID-19, to which migrant women have been more vulnerable. Alternatively, parks and green spaces have been a key to recovering mental health. In line with this, long-term management of green spaces has been raised as an issue to help promote people's health and empowerment. However, we have little evidence that the issue also conveys the empowerment of migrants and positivity through participation in park and green space management. Therefore, this study aims at 1) understanding migrant women's perception toward participation in park and green space management, 2) analyzing the correlation between empowerment and place-keeping, and 3) deriving implications. Methods: To address the objectives, this study conducts 1) a theoretical review of empowerment and place-keeping of migrant women through literature review and 2) a non-face-to-face survey targeting 108 migrant women. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 26. Results: The results are as follows 1) migrant women have highly positive perceptions toward participation in park and green space management, with statistical significance in funding and governance depending on the marital status, and 2) there is a significant correlation between place-keeping and empowerment in role and expression. This means that increasing the role and expression in empowerment can promote more active participation in park and green space management. Conclusion: In conclusion, in order to improve the empowerment of migrant women, they should be guided to actively participate in park and green space management and provided with the opportunity to participate in policy-making. © 2022 by the Society for People, Plants, and Environment.