2023-11-12 12:40:33
Out of 10,000 positions studied, 7% are female managers: South Korea is pleased with this number, which has doubled in five years. However, it remains very weak. Comparing with other members of the OECD, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development which brings together 38 countries, South Korea accumulates poor marks. The salary gap between men and women is thus the highest, with more than 30% difference. And only half of adult women are employed.
However, there is no shortage of qualified women for positions of responsibility. Two-thirds of South Korean women have higher education qualifications.
Maternity leave under pressure
“South Korea has a male-centric business culture,” says Jeon Gi-taek, a researcher at the Korea Women’s Development Institute. At work, men are very present and they are favored there. Companies assume that women will stop working when they have a child, so they don’t see the point in giving them promotions and responsibilities, she argues.
“We find ourselves having to make a choice: a child or a career,” regrets Lee Seol-ha, who works in a large finance company. Although the law allows up to one year of maternity leave, companies often insist that mothers do not exercise their rights. “Some managers ask us to resign before giving birth or not to take all of our leaveshe continues. It has happened to colleagues that their position was changed upon their return from leave. »
Few women in company management
The current government is considering increasing the length of maternity leave to one and a half years to encourage births. With 0.8 children per woman, South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. But it is difficult to know whether this measure will be properly applied.
“After a career break, explains Jeon Gi-taek, rehired women generally obtain lower positions than they had before, without responsibilities. » Result: a great lack of women in the management of companies in the country. Out of 900 management positions in the 30 largest South Korean companies, there are only 25 women.
A well-known problem, which the State is starting to try to correct through laws. In 2020, for example, South Korea adopted a text requiring companies with more than one million euros in turnover to have at least one woman on the board of directors. Progress which, however, remains quite marginal, since it concerns less than 200 South Korean companies.
“Having a child and working is war”
However, other initiatives have been put in place by the State, in particular to support women in their careers. “Having a child and working in Korea is war every day, says Jeon Ji-soo, IT marketing team leader. I thought about leaving my job because I didn’t know where to turn anymore.. But I didn’t want to end my career. »
So she contacted the Saeil counseling center, created by the Ministry of Gender Equality. The latter offers all female volunteers training, job search assistance or, as in her case, a career cessation prevention program. “Thanks to this, I was able to successfully propose a plan to my company in order to change the way we work, our schedule and by delegating a little moreshe explains. I was able to keep my job while freeing up time to take care of my family, which remains very rare in South Korea. »
Women entrepreneurs
If women still struggle to make a career in large South Korean companies, some have taken the lead and become their own bosses. “Women represent more than 45% of all start-up founders over the last five years,” précie Jeon Gi-taek.
In 2018, Anh Hyeong-seon, 29, resigned from her position as a sales manager at a delivery company. “I was no longer progressing in my work, at almost 30 years old, I had already reached the glass ceiling,” she remembers.
After observing that some women felt uncomfortable bringing plumbers and electricians into their homes, she decided to create her own service business, by women and for women. “It was a big challenge, because there are almost no female plumbers, for example. Traditionally, this is reserved for men. So, I recruited motivated women and we trained,” she explains.
Anh Hyeong-seon has been running her own business for four years now. A sometimes difficult adventure, but one of which she is proud. “It shows that we women can also succeedshe insists. It’s very hard to find your place as a woman in Korea, but we must not give up, we are as capable as men. »
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