The Study Cafe Phenomenon

Photo courtesy: New Scientist

Your eyes are locked onto the screen while your fingers dance across the keyboard with ease and efficiency. The commotion and chatter around you is blocked by your noise cancelling airpods–the lo-fi study playlist muting any surrounding distractions. Whether it’s the tension from others’ concentration, the uncomfortable rigid chairs, or just the fact that you’re away from your bedroom, studying at cafes has a way of turning the switch that sparks concentration, which feels impossible to do at home. These study cafes seem like the closest thing we’ll ever find to academic magic—or, are they too good to be true? 

Study cafes, whether it’s your local Starbucks or a nearby brunch cafe, have become a universal hub for students in South Korea. Despite its name, students treat cafes as make-shift libraries, setting up their computer stand and stacking multiple notebooks on a table that was originally meant for socializing with friends. Gen Z has come up with a term for this: cagongjok, directly translating to “a tribe of people who study at cafes.” These students seem to get some work done at cafes, but do they really focus better, or are they just convinced they do? 

Due to Korea’s hyper-competitive culture, cagongjok has its extreme cases too. According to BBC, a student preparing for the College Scholastic Ability Test (Korea Herald), also known as Suneung, camped at Starbucks from 11am until 10pm, sometimes leaving her belongings at her seat while going out for a break. Although it seems like pure productivity from afar, cagongjok may pose underlying concerns for the rest of society. For local cafes or even franchises, cagongjok acts as a growing threat to their businesses. Undeniably, cafe owners wouldn’t be thrilled to see the seats of potential customers occupied by backpacks, as students hog and take up more than double the space they need. To make matters worse, cagongjok often plug in their electronic devices, taking advantage of the cafe as both a library and charging station. When customers camp at the cafe all day, restrict others from coming in, and use up extra electricity, cafe owners would inevitably struggle to maintain profit and keep the lights on. However, some professors believe that these students shouldn’t be blamed for over-using cafes as a study outlet, as these extensive hours are caused by South Korean society’s hyperfixation on educational excellence. Moreover, they believe that cagongjok is a cultural phenomenon, stemming from Korea’s high standard of academic success and competitive culture. To combat these financial concerns, new variations of study cafes emerge, with less ‘cafe’ and more ‘studying’, providing pure silence, isolated seats, and a focused atmosphere to get work done. 

Regardless of which cafe you study at or how long you stayed there, you’ve likely experienced the sudden trigger of productivity and concentration, followed up with the abrupt drain in energy after a couple of hours. Through your peripheral vision, you’d notice that the man next to you has given up on his essay and resigned to watching Instagram, while the student on your left has yet to flip the page on her math textbook. In front of you lies your computer, airpods, a drink, and a pair of fatigued hands. As you concede to scrolling on TikTok, you can’t help but wonder whether the cafe actually boosts productivity or if it just feels that way. Although a study cafes’ effectiveness depends on individual preferences and comfort, it could simply be the placebo effect, convincing yourself that you’re being tremendously productive, even though you could’ve done the same work at home. Whether it’s real or imagined, study cafes offer a space for students to focus- but is it worth it?