Being an international student at KAIST helps one understand what it’s like to be a minority in a larger, monolithic community. Not that we face the kind of oppression and discrimination felt by, say, people of color in the US or women in male-dominated workplaces, but we know how difficult it is to fit in when you are different from most of the people around you — to integrate ourselves into a community where we aren’t made to feel like we belong.

In today’s world, where diversity and intersectionality are core values, more and more communities are being encouraged to break away from homogeneity. Countries — especially developed ones — are accepting immigrants and refugees from less-developed countries, offering them greater opportunities. Affirmative action in American universities prioritizes the admission of minorities and underprivileged applicants, and schools like KAIST offer incentives to entice foreign applicants. Workplaces are becoming more aware of the systemic challenges women face in employment and promotion. But when a homogeneous group suddenly finds itself disturbed by those who are different, some pushback is bound to happen.

Diversifying a population through sheer numbers alone — whether in a school, a community, or a whole country — doesn’t naturally lead to harmonious integration and assimilation. Just because an originally male-dominated company is now employing more women doesn’t mean that the women will be immediately accepted by their male colleagues, or that they no longer face discrimination and undue disadvantage. Just because international students are being admitted to KAIST doesn’t mean that their Korean classmates will automatically see them as part of the community. There’s a reason why one of the most common questions KAIST internationals ask is, “How can I make more Korean friends?”

The tendency, then, is for minorities to stick to each other and form their own bubbles. KAIST internationals tend to spend more time with one another than with their Korean counterparts; the few women in a certain workplace would be friends among themselves; and members of the LGBTQ+ community who are disowned or ridiculed find comfort in those who are like them and have gone through the same experiences. This runs counter to the point of diversity and integration and instead leads to the formation of mini-communities that are just as homogenous as the original whole.

However, when minorities do band together, it allows them to fight more effectively against the challenges they face. Women got the vote precisely because women came together to fight for it; there is a similar momentum behind movements like Black Lives Matter and Gay Pride. Special considerations are granted to help level the playing field, such as affirmative action and protection from discrimination. For KAIST internationals, we get representative organizations like the KAIST International Student Association, special events, and privileges like country-based group activity support.

As expected, there is some pushback — mostly from the privileged majority — against these kinds of special considerations. Some white Americans feel their culture is being stolen and desecrated. Some male applicants feel they are losing jobs to their female counterparts on the basis of gender alone. Many cry “unfairness” and “reverse discrimination” because they feel, in the effort to diversify, that they have become the underprivileged. For instance, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has promised to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family because, he says, the country has “no structural gender discrimination” anymore, despite ranking 102nd out of 156 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Report.

President-elect Yoon would be correct, and so would many self-proclaimed victims of “reverse discrimination”, that these special considerations for minorities and outsiders would no longer be needed if true equality and fairness has been achieved. Such special treatment, after all, can serve to remind us of our differences rather than our similarities. But a truly fair community does not ignore differences — it recognizes, and even celebrates, them. Special treatment is given to minorities not because they are different but because they are disadvantaged. This is the true purpose of these categories that seemingly separate us: to recognize those with less opportunity and more challenges, and to lift them up and rectify such injustice. We must continue this effort vigorously for true equality. Once this has been attained — then, and only then, can we successfully pursue integration and break down the walls of separation.