2019 Survey Results Show Hiring Scale for Women Remains Steady
Number of Women in Senior Positions Continues to Increase Across All Research Institutions
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Although the employment of female science and technology personnel remains stagnant, cracks are appearing in the "glass ceiling."
On the 29th, the Ministry of Science and ICT revealed these findings in the 2019 survey results on the implementation and utilization status of recruitment and promotion targets for female science and technology personnel. The Ministry announced the results of the recruitment and promotion target implementation survey conducted on 126 government-affiliated science and technology research institutes, and the utilization status survey of female science and technology personnel conducted on a total of 4,639 university, public, and private research institutes.
According to the results, government-funded research institutes and national/public research institutes affiliated with public corporations met the recruitment and promotion targets (30% and 15%, respectively) for three consecutive years. In 2019, these research institutes hired 684 new female employees, accounting for 32.2% of the total, similar to the previous year (907 employees, 31.1%). The promotion rate was 16.1%, a slight decrease from 17.4% the previous year. Among the total 1,099 promoted personnel, 177 were women. By rank, the rates were 18.1% for senior positions and 14.9% for managerial positions. Meanwhile, these public research institutes operated an average of 12.8 out of 15 systems and facilities to support work-family balance.
In the utilization status survey of female science and technology personnel conducted across all 4,639 research institutes in the private, public, and university sectors, the proportion of female employees was 20.7% (50,191 people), an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous year. The proportion of women among newly hired personnel was 26.2%, down 2.7 percentage points from the previous year. However, the proportion of women in leadership positions increased by 0.6 percentage points to 10.6%, the proportion of women among promoted personnel rose by 0.2 percentage points to 17.6%, and the proportion of female research leaders increased by 0.7 percentage points to 11.6%. Among large research projects exceeding 1 billion KRW, the proportion of female research leaders was 8.5%, up 1.9 percentage points from the previous year.
Among work-family balance support systems in all research institutes, the adoption and operation rate of legally mandated systems was 91.2%, while the rate of standalone workplace daycare centers was 64.5%, down 2.9 percentage points from the previous year. Including outsourced daycare centers, the rate was 90.1%.
The enrollment rate of women in science and engineering fields was 29.2% (71,784 people), a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year, while the proportion of female students currently enrolled was 30.5% (239,940 people), an increase of 0.3 percentage points.
The employment rate immediately after graduation for female science and engineering students showed a gap between natural sciences (58.5%) and engineering (65.1%) fields, and gender disparities persisted. Among science and engineering graduates, the employment rate for men was 71.8%, while for women it was 63.9%.
The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "These survey results will be used as key reference data to assess the performance goals of the 4th Basic Plan for the Promotion and Support of Female Science and Technology Personnel, including the future influx of outstanding female scientists and technologists and the expansion of their participation and output in R&D."
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