A Study on the Determinants of Employment Migration Among Female College Graduates in South Korea

With the decline in population and the acceleration of youth outmigration from regions in South Korea, the crisis of regional extinction has emerged as a significant issue. Since 2000, the net outmigration rate of the youth population in non-metropolitan areas had been gradually decreasing; however, this trend reversed sharply after 2015. Notably, young women are more likely than young men to move from non-metropolitan areas to the metropolitan area for further education or employment. Regional brain drain has been identified as a factor exacerbating regional imbalances in South Korean society. However, the transition of regional university graduates into the labor market exhibits greater volatility and instability compared to graduates from metropolitan universities. Moreover, female youth are in a more disadvantaged position in the labor market than their male counterparts, facing intense competition for decent jobs. Hence, this study examines the decisions of young female regional university graduates to move or stay for decent job opportunities, taking into account the socioeconomic inequality structure and individual job value perceptions. With data from the 2020 "Graduate Occupational Mobility Survey," we apply a sample selection bivariate probit model to analyze young female regional university graduates' entry into the labor market and their regional migration. The results show that regional young women actively move in search of decent jobs. It is found that female youth’s outmigration is promoted by the preference for large-scale enterprises, a local job shortages and high reservation wages. In addition, the effect of employment-oriented major selection and household wealth effect are detected to play a role in securing decent jobs in the region. These findings suggest that disparities in job availability and wealth inequality may contribute to the reproduction of inequality in South Korean society.