Korea at rock bottom in ratio of women on boards

By Kim Bo-eun

Korea had the lowest percentage of women on boards of directors in the corporate sector in a survey of 56 countries, according to a report published by Credit Suisse, Tuesday.

The percentage of female board members stood at 3.1 percent, a 0.8 percentage points decrease from 2016, when Credit Suisse conducted its previous survey.

The survey looked into the gender ratio of 30,000 workers at more than 3,000 companies in the 56 states.

Globally, women accounted for 20.6 percent of board members. The figure has doubled over the past decade, according to the report.

Figures for other countries in the Asia Pacific region such as Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand neared 30 percent. Japan and Pakistan were among the countries ranking bottom, with 5.7 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

The number of female managers was highest in European countries, such as Norway, France, Sweden and Italy, where the figure ranged from 33 percent to over 44 percent. These countries have gender quotas for board members or similar policies.

The report also found a correlation between the number of women in managerial positions involved in decision making and the company's share price and performance.

“We find that differentiating companies by their management rather than board diversity, if anything, yields stronger results,” Richard Kersly, author of the report and head of global thematic research at Credit Suisse International, said.

“Companies that have more diverse management teams have generated sector-adjusted outperformances approaching 4 percent a year compared to those displaying below average diversity ratios.”

In Korea, women in management level positions increased 1 percent from 2016 to 4 percent this year. However, globally this is still the second lowest figure, after Japan's 3 percent.

The report found companies with less gender diversity showed greater wage gaps according to gender.