[2020 Women Index] Career Breaks Decrease and Rush into Senior Positions... The Era of Female Managers Is Coming

Asia Women Index Scores 46.74, Up 4.01 Points from Last Year
Family Care Leave Item Added Due to COVID-19

On the 28th, at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun delivered a congratulatory speech via video at the '2020 Asia Women Leaders Forum' hosted by Asia Economy. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The 5th Asia Women Index recorded a score of 46.74, an increase of 4.01 points compared to last year. The overall trend shows improvement in scores year by year.

This year, some items from the previous indicators were revised to reflect changes in the corporate environment. New questions related to work-family balance were introduced, encompassing not only marriage and childbirth but also gender equality, singlehood, and inclusion of male workers. A question on family care leave, which has significantly expanded due to the impact of COVID-19, was also added. Additionally, marking the 5th year of the Women Index, a new item comparing wages of employees with 10 years of service was introduced.

This year’s Asia Women Index was conducted on a total of 89 companies across five industries: manufacturing, distribution & small and medium enterprises (SMEs), finance & securities, construction & real estate, and IT, pharmaceuticals & bio. Considering the size of companies by industry, only the top 30 manufacturing companies and top 10 construction & real estate companies by sales were selected, while the top 20 companies were selected for the other industries. Among the industries, IT, pharmaceuticals & bio scored the highest with an average of 54.63 points, and construction & real estate scored the lowest with 41.63 points.

The average proportion of female managers among the 89 companies was relatively high. A high proportion of managers indicates an increase in women advancing to senior positions and a decrease in career interruptions. The proportion of female managers was 34.67%, higher than the proportion of female employees (30.11%) and female regular employees (29.44%). The proportion of female manager candidates was also high at 61.20%. On the other hand, the proportion of female executives was relatively low at 15.49%. The IT, pharmaceuticals & bio sector had the highest rate at 21.48%, while finance & securities had the lowest at 7.04%.

The gender wage gap was also confirmed numerically. The average wage ratio of women to men at 5 years and 10 years of service was 96.4% and 94.35%, respectively. This means the gap widens as years of service increase. In particular, the finance & securities sector showed the largest wage gap from early career through 5 and 10 years of service.

The return rate of men from parental leave compared to women’s return rate was 102.19%, higher than that of women. This is likely because the recently increased number of men taking parental leave have started returning to work. The IT, pharmaceuticals & bio industry, which has a high utilization rate of the male parental leave system, showed a high return rate of 144.43%, while finance & securities showed a low return rate of 52.64%. The majority of companies (91.10%) responded that they operate grievance handling systems for issues such as sexual harassment.

Professor Heejeong Lim of Hanyang Cyber University’s Department of Business Administration, who was in charge of evaluating excellent companies, said, “Unfortunately, no excellent companies were selected in the construction & real estate industry, which has a strong impression of being male-dominated. If there are companies in such industries that properly implement or strive for female employment and safety management systems, introducing them would have a significant effect on the same industry.” Professor Sanghyun Sung of Dongguk University’s Department of Business Administration suggested, “It would be meaningful to include policies reflecting the COVID-19 situation in next year’s indicators.”