Immigration, Cultural Adjustment, and Work Values: The Case of Korean Nail Care Workers in New York

Abstract

This study addresses the significance of acculturation, known as cultural adjustment, in examining work values among Korean female nail care workers in New York. In this study, acculturation is measured by both English proficiency and personal comfort in the mainstream cultural comfort, while four indicators are used to measure work values: the subjective evaluation of the nature of the work, both perceptions of occupational status and self-development, and the consideration of quitting the current nail job. Using a sample of 312 responses, this study shows that nail care workers have evaluated the nature of the nail care work less devalued as they experience improvements in English proficiency and cultural comfort. Second, this study also supports that cultural comfort plays a positive effect on their perception of nail care work as an employment sector in a upper-middle or upper occupational status. Moreover, there is evidence that more cultural comfort tends to lower their intention of quitting the nail care job. However, this study suggests that acculturation has little to do with perception of self-development in nail care work.