Story by Sara Epstein Moninger, Iowa
At just 4 years old, Jiwon Kim recognized that society is not equitable—and she decided to do something about it.
In May 2021, Kim reaches a milestone in her mission by graduating from the University of Iowa College of Education with a PhD in counselor education and supervision. She wants to explore and facilitate the career development of women and members of minority populations, particularly by probing career-related factors that may have been under-studied or overlooked altogether.
“While working as a counselor in a women’s vocational school for my master’s internship, I could see that a lot of female college students were suffering from intimate partner violence. Because of the abusive relationship, they couldn’t pay enough attention to their academic work and career-related tasks,” says Kim, who was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. “That piqued my interest in the connection between various aspects of women’s lives and their career development.”
With a doctoral degree from Iowa and a faculty appointment on the horizon at Creighton University, Kim has the potential to impact thousands of students by teaching future counselor educators. She expects her knowledge, counseling experience, and research to benefit her teaching.