6. Korean Women in Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities

The status of women leaders in Korea is still considered token because only a small number of women achieve leadership positions, not yet reaching 15% in all sectors, except the political sector, where 51 women (17%) were selected in the 2016 parliamentary election. Korea occupies one of the lowest women representation in senior roles, boards, and executive committees in Asia and in the world. Korean women’s low status in global rankings is quite alarming given the nation’s prestigious status as a world economic power. Why has Korea’s remarkable economic success failed to translate into women’s corresponding status? In this chapter, we attempted to answer this driving question, though there is no single answer. We reviewed literature on women in leadership in Korea and shared the study results we found from our recent research on women leaders in Korea. We begin with our operational definition of women leaders, provide statistical analysis of women’s participation in the labor market, discuss challenges and opportunities women leaders face, and present research agendas for further investigation.