Glass ceiling remains thick in public sector

By Yoon Ja-young

More than two years have passed since the inauguration of the country’s first woman president, but the glass ceiling seems to be as strong as ever.

Woman executives are still rare at public companies, though many who are public employees think they can do the same job as men compared with others in the private sector.

According to CEO Score, a corporate research firm, there are only two female executives in the country’s top 30 state-run enterprises and institutions.

They also decreased the hiring of women. According to the analysis, women comprised only 19.6 percent of the 2,501 rookies hired by these state-run companies during the past three years. That is 5 percentage points lower than the ratio marked before the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye. Eleven of the agencies didn’t hire any women at all.

What is worse, this ratio notably shrank more, the higher up the corporate ladder.

Women comprised 21.3 percent of staff-level employees, but the ratio dwindled to 9.7 percent at the mid-manager level. Among managers, only 1.2 percent are women. Among the 148 executives at these 30 companies, there are only two women.

Those working at public agencies say it is structurally difficult for women to rise up on the ladder.

“Networking is essential for promotion. You need to increase your friendly forces who can support you during the promotion season,” said a manager at a state-run company. “As many women take childcare leave and go straight home after work, they have no opportunities for that,” he added.

A female mid-level manager at a state-run organization said women get few opportunities to prove their capabilities. “Male bosses seem to prefer men. Women have more difficulties in building a good career path by taking important tasks.”

Due to the unfavorable condition, many women are quitting their jobs. According to Statistics Korea, there are 2.1 million career-interrupted women in the country. Among them, 36.9 percent quit the job when they got married, while 24.4 percent quit while they were pregnant or when they gave birth to a child. Another 30 percent left work to raise their children.

Researchers recommend that the country set up an environment where women can continue with their careers. “The government should increase support so that women can seek a balance between work and home,” said Ko Seung-yeon, a researcher at the Hyundai Research Institute. She pointed out that government spending related to family affairs is among the lowest of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.