[2020 Women’s Forum] “Find What You Love Even When Facing Social Pressure”

Jinhyung Lee, Professor of Neurology and Bioengineering at Stanford University
Lecture via Zoom Video Platform in the United States

Professor Lee Jin-hyung of Stanford University's Department of Neurology and Bioengineering is giving a lecture at the "2020 Asia Women Leaders Forum" held on the 28th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] “In a word, my life can be summarized as a story of choosing only difficult paths and struggling through them. Although I have been abroad, there were many challenges partly because I am a woman. The ‘challenge’ I faced due to my choices was especially hard because I am female. However, on the other hand, the idea of taking responsibility for my choices has been a great help in living my life.”

Professor Jin-Hyung Lee of the Department of Neurology and Bioengineering at Stanford University, who gave the first lecture in the ‘Important Decision-Making, Influence’ session at the ‘2020 Asia Women Leaders Forum,’ said, “Choice is not simply about selecting something, but about what efforts you make to overcome it.”

While in the United States, Professor Lee met with forum speakers via the real-time video platform Zoom. He said, “The first major decision I had to make was when I was a student. When I was in middle school, during the first counseling session for admission to a science high school, I faced opposition because I was a girl.” Recalling that time, Professor Lee said, “Not only teachers but also fellow students told me that if I went to a science high school, I wouldn’t be able to get married and that my life would be ruined.”

When Professor Lee entered the science high school, there were 180 students in total, with only 28 female students. That meant only 3 to 4 females per class of 30 students. He said, “As you can see from this small example, there were considerable difficulties due to social pressure and direct remarks faced as a woman.”

He also encountered difficulties because he was a woman in university. Professor Lee said, “At Seoul National University College of Engineering, there were only 7 female students out of 296, and the cultural differences were significant.” He added, “Out of those 7 female students, 3 graduated from engineering. Two completed engineering studies. The others, as far as I remember, went on to pass the bar exam or entered medical school.” He said, “Although I wanted to contribute to society through science and do good work, I was treated as a ‘gongsooni’ (female factory worker) and faced various criticisms.”

After graduating early from university and entering Stanford University, Professor Lee said it was better than the ‘gongsooni’ days and continued his research. Despite many oppositions, having achieved what he wanted to do, he advised, “I did not hesitate to use any means to find answers to the problems I wanted to solve. You should set goals by solving problems and think about finding something that society needs, that you like, and that you are good at.”