Korean Women Rank Low in Terms of Work Force Advancement

Korea Times notes that Korean women scored the lowest in terms of prospects of advancement in their socio-economic status among nations of the Asia-Pacific region, according to a survey.

The MasterIndex of Women’s Advancement, conducted by MasterCard, projects, scores and averages women’s empowerment in four areas: labor force participation, tertiary education, managerial position and income.

Korean women are 72.8, 74.4, 16.4 and 18.8, respectively in each of the four areas. A score of 72.8 in labor force participation, for instance, means that for every 100 men in the labor force, there are 72.8 women.

In spite of their relatively high labor participation rate and education level, the overall score is pulled down by their employment status and income said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, senior economist in Asia for MasterCard International.

For every 100 Korean men who believe they are in managerial positions, only 16.4 women entertain the same belief. Similarly, for every 100 of Korean men who believe they earn an above average income, only 18.8 of women do, the report said.

In fact, Korean women are still underrepresented in the labor force. Though women account for 41 percent of the workforce, most are in the informal and subcontracting sectors (the latter is defined as firms employing less than 5 workers), according to Asian Demographics.