A Career Built and Constrained

This flow tracks Kim Jiyoung’s ambition to work, her efforts to enter and advance in marketing, and the structural barriers that eventually make her departure from the profession feel both chosen and imposed.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

An Independent Start

An Independent Start Choosing a Direction At university, Kim Jiyoung initially struggles to adapt to competition and unfamiliar ways of studying. Outside class, she discovers a sociable and curious side of herself through clubs, conferences, and friendships. She begins to imagine a working future without a precise blueprint. Unlike a student whose path is already fixed, she explores interests and gradually becomes drawn to marketing. Preparation As graduation nears, Kim Jiyoung joins a study group that shares job information, revises applications, and enters competitions. Yun Hyejin becomes both a collaborator and a source of candid information about hiring practices. Their preparation is energetic, but it cannot neutralize the unequal conditions surrounding recruitment. The transition from campus to employment will test whether achievement is enough to open the same doors for women and men.

Hiring Through Rejection

Hiring Through Rejection Barriers Before Interviews Kim Jiyoung submits applications to dozens of organizations without receiving a response. Yun Hyejin explains that male graduates dominate alumni events and that informal recommendations can favor men even when women have stronger qualifications. The examples unsettle Kim Jiyoung’s belief that recruitment is simply a fair competition among candidates. Women may be judged as either insufficiently capable or too demanding when they object to exclusion. A First Offer At interviews, Kim Jiyoung encounters questions about how she would respond to a client’s sexual advances. One candidate blames her own appearance and conduct, while Kim Jiyoung later learns that none of the women received an offer from that interview. Near graduation, a marketing agency finally hires her. The offer brings relief and genuine hope, giving her an entry into work after a search that has already shown how gender shapes access to employment.

Learning the Profession

Learning the Profession Recognition at Work Kim Jiyoung starts as the youngest member of her team and takes on coffee, meal setup, and other small tasks without being asked. Team leader Kim Eunsil notices the gendered pattern and tells her those duties are not part of her job. When Kim Jiyoung produces a successful press release, the work is published widely. Competence and mentorship give her a real sense of accomplishment, and colleagues make the workplace feel more like a community than the hostile jungle she had feared. Unequal Expectations Interactions with clients are less reassuring. Older male representatives make crude jokes, comment on Kim Jiyoung’s appearance, and use business gatherings to pressure her into drinking and unwanted proximity. Her professional standing grows, but the client-facing role also exposes her to harassment that the organization has not removed. Success requires navigating both the actual work and the gendered behavior surrounding it.

The Missed Promotion Path

The Missed Promotion Path An Elite Team When the agency creates a planning team, Kim Jiyoung wants to join and is told she would be suited to the work. The eventual selections include experienced managers and two male colleagues who joined with her, while she and another woman remain outside. A private conversation among coworkers reveals the rationale: management expects women to leave once childcare becomes part of their lives. The team is designed for presumed long-term male employees instead of being organized around retaining capable staff of any gender. Confidence Erodes The two men were not chosen because they had consistently outperformed the women. Their selection reflects a belief that women are less viable investments, while women are assigned demanding clients and left out of the advancement track. Kim Jiyoung continues working, but her faith that diligence will lead to opportunity weakens. The gap between her daily performance and management’s assumptions becomes a defining limit on her career.

Leaving the Work She Valued

Leaving the Work She Valued A Difficult Departure As childbirth approaches, Kim Jiyoung weighs leave against resigning. Childcare arrangements are unavailable or impractical, and the household’s finances and working hours make a full return difficult. She eventually tells the agency she is leaving. The decision does not follow from incompetence or lack of interest; she had found meaningful work, supportive colleagues, and satisfaction in earning her own income. Loss Beyond a Job The day after her final day, Kim Jiyoung wakes expecting the habits of office life and then realizes that there is no workplace to return to. The recognition brings tears that did not come at the farewell itself. Her resignation is one household’s response to a childcare problem, but it also reflects a wider pattern in which women’s employment drops after marriage and childbirth. What is framed as an individual choice carries the pressure of inadequate alternatives.

College years, early 2000s

Senior year and graduation, 2005

First years at the marketing agency, mid-2000s

Early career, before marriage

2014, late pregnancy