SEOUL, KOREA - Korea was ranked at the bottom in terms of percentage of women in corporate top management and boards of directors. According to Credit Suisse Group on September 29 based on a survey on 28,000 high-ranking executives of 3,000 corporations across 36 countries, the ratio of women executives in Korea was lowest at 1.2 percent.

 

It was lower than that of other developing nations such as Pakistan (6.5%), Chile (6.8%), India (7.1%), and Turkey (8.0%). Comparing to other Asian emerging market countries, the contrast is more glaring. Countries like Malaysia (26.2%), Singapore (25.1%), the Philippines (24.6%), and Taiwan (24.3%) were all at the 25-percent level.

 

As for the percentage of women directors in boards of directors, Korea was third lowest among 44 countries under survey at 2.4 percent. The only two countries whose women director ratio was lower were Japan (1.6%) and Pakistan (1.5%). The Scandinavian and some European countries had the highest level of women directors, including Sweden (30.3%), France (29.6%), Finland (29.5%).

 

The Credit Suisse report said, "In the case of Korea, the ratio of women executives and directors was low and the gender wage gap was 39 percent, one of the highest among the countries in the survey. These gender disparities may pose as an obstacle for corporations to grow further as it breeds frustration and mass-desertion of talented female managers within the organization."