Explanations for continued gender discrimination in South Korean workplaces

Abstract

This paper investigates potential explanations for the continued gender discrimination in South Korean workplaces despite decades of gender policy reforms and improved education for women. Making use of both primary and secondary data sources, the institutional theory, the voluntary compliance regulatory enforcement strategy and the typology of regulatory noncompliance provide a framework from which four explanations regarding the origin and nature of Korean firm equal opportunity (EO) compliance issues are derived. Identified through data analysis, explanations include a lack of legal enforcement, a weak punishment system, a tacit acceptance of the status quo by women, organizational cultural issues stemming from the traditional Korean mind-set that allow gender discrimination and a general lack of knowledge about EO regulations by many companies. Reforms and paradigm changes addressing these gender policy compliance issues could yield considerable social benefits in reducing the scope and quantity of gender discrimination in Korean workplaces.

Keywords::

• gender discrimination
• gender policy
• institutional theory
• South Korea
• typology of regulatory noncompliance
• voluntary compliance regulatory enforcement strategy

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the research funding for young professors provided by Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2013.

Notes

^1. Confidentiality was requested for some communications (emails, personal discussions and telephone conversations) from significant industry and government interviewees used in this research. Due to this, only the interviewee's job title and organization were listed.

^2. The bracketed numbers indicate the ID numbers of the specific interviewees who made comments within the research. The interviewee ID numbers and characteristics can be found in Table 4.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Louise Patterson

Assistant Professor Louise Patterson is at the HR Department, School of Management, Kyung-Hee University, Seoul, Korea. Her main focus is gender discrimination in the Korean workplace.

Brandon Walcutt

Professor Brandon Walcutt is a faculty member at the Department of International Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Korea. His main study interests are tourism and entrepreneurship.