Korean Women Managers and Corporate Culture

Challenging Tradition, Choosing Empowerment, Creating Change

Jean R. Renshaw

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780415297233
• eBook ISBN: 9781136706301
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

The typical view of Korean women is not as managers. The stereotype is of Korean women serving and pleasing men, or more recently as aggressive shopkeepers and bar-owners. Very little has been written to challenge this misconception. This fascinating book reveals there have always been managers amongst Korean women, particularly in occupations like money lending, retail and fashion, and women continue to serve after the economic crash at the beginning of a new century. Korean Women Managers and Corporate Culture illuminates the many roles of women - from management, leadership and policy making, to the more traditional positions as homemaker and wife – and describes the distinctive Korean corporate culture and economy in order to evaluate the future of women as well as that of Korea itself.

1    Introduction

Once upon a time in a kingdom by the sea, women reigned as queens and shaman/priests. That was “Long ago when the tiger smoked and the rabbit talked to dragons,” in an ancient Asian kingdom called Silla. Today that kingdom is part of modern Korea. While Korean women are still strong, educated and competent, they no longer reign as queens. On international measures of gender empowerment that indicate the status and welfare of women, the nation ranks near the bottom.

Confucius and the Bamboo Screen

In recent decades Korean women have allowed themselves to be dominated by men. Why? That is one of the puzzling mysteries explored in this book. The image of Korean women is contradictory. One image is that of service, endurance and subordination—as wives, mothers, secretaries, clerks, and waitresses, while another image is of the entrepreneur, often a tough, sexy barmaid/bar-owner. A preferred and dominant image is that of the hardworking protector of the family focused on supporting family members—managing children’s education and maintaining family status and finances. All this takes place behind a bamboo screen, Suryom ChongJong, as in fifteenth-century palaces where women conducted affairs of state from behind a bamboo screen. Korean women today are still expected to be seen publicly as serving others, not as leaders.

Korean women can be found in management and leadership positions, but the number of women managers is low in comparison to other industrialized countries. ¹ Less than 5 percent of the total managers in Korea are women compared to 20 percent to 50 percent in other industrialized countries. Public recognition of women in leadership roles is relatively recent and reluctantly given. Stereotypes persist of Korean women merely serving and pleasing men, yet when pressed all agree that women do, indeed, exert power, even though often behind the scenes and unacknowledged. A number of men told me that their wives received their salaries, gave the husband an allowance and sent them to work. They said their wives managed them and the family. That is not the story told at the office. As Korean women speak out and move into public leadership roles, they challenge the traditional norms and presentations of roles. In the process, women confront barriers, constraints and problems both similar to and distinct from other countries.

In the year 2000 I authored, Kimono in the Boardroom: The Invisible Evolution of Japanese Women Managers. Researching and writing that book about Japanese women managers, I had to learn a great deal about Japanese history, art, culture, economy, customs and society in order to understand the role of women in Japan. As I learned about women in Japan, I gained a deeper understanding of my own history, culture, customs, and the barriers and successes experienced by women leaders in my own country.

When I was invited to write a book about Korean women managers, I thought it would be relatively easy to build on my experience and research in Japan. Not so. Even though there are many similarities, Korea is very different from Japan. The similarities and differences are often subtle and confusing, but important. Both nations have ties to China historically and culturally. They have commonalities in writing, language, festivals, and customs. Yet the two countries have taken very different paths that are evident in the roles, actions and lives of women, particularly in the ability of women to succeed in leadership positions. These subtle, yet important similarities and differences continue today and are part of the stories explored in later chapters.

Korean women do not strike the casual observer as submissive demure Madame Butterflies, neither now or 100 years ago when Western travelers first began to describe them as tenacious, shrewd and even fractious.

Hong Suk Ja, first woman candidate for president of Korea in 1987

Korean women are physically strong, articulate, educated, and assertive. Their physical strength is apparent compared with the deceptively delicate appearance of Japanese women. Korean women are recognized in their management and ownership of small businesses and real estate all over the world. While Korean women are often seen as aggressive shopkeepers and as owners of small business and bars, paradoxically, they are not seen as effective managers and leaders, instead they are scorned as bad tempered and loud talkers. Their aggressive “in-charge” reputation as boss contrasts with their lack of representation in management in corporate Korea where common stereotypes and preferences show them only serving and pleasing men, whether fathers, husbands, sons, or bosses.

Little has been written, at least in English, to challenge these misconceptions and the problems they create.² There have always been examples of Korean women wielding power, women who are considered “exceptional,” but often invisible, famous for a day and quickly forgotten. A notable exception and very visible is Korea’s first astronaut, a woman engineer, who is a source of great pride in Korea and provides an amazing new international image for Korean women. Another is the Korean woman who in 2010 had scaled all 14 of the highest peaks in the world bringing public notice to Korea, as well as women golfers excelling in international competitions, and Olympic Gold medalist ice skater, Kim Yu-na.

For a country usually so frugal in shepherding its limited resources, the waste of women’s talents is astounding. Women provide 42 percent of the workforce of the country, but less than 5 percent of the managers. Women earn less than men, on average 60 percent less, yet they carry roughly half of the burden of paid work, in addition to most of the unpaid work. Expected to be unseen and unheard, women provide labor when they are needed and then are assumed to be happy returning home when they can be replaced by men. Their customary and valued role is to produce and reproduce for the nation, to raise the falling birth rate, to maintain the home, to care for the children and the elderly, to manage social life and status functions—and only incidentally, when needed, should they be a part of the workforce or have a career. In reality, their labor is always needed since they make up almost half of the total workforce; young men now look for a wife who will contribute her salary to the family income. It is no wonder that many women feel oppressed and treated as second-class citizens in a patriarchal society.

In spite of these enormous barriers some women do succeed as managers and leaders in business, government, and society.

For example:

• A Korean woman business owner made the Wall Street Journal’s list of 50 of the world’s most successful business owners in 2004;
• a Korean woman became the president of Hyundai in 2008;
• a Korean woman became prime minister in 2006;
• the election in 2004 more than doubled the percentage of women legislators from 6 percent to 13 percent;
• Korea’s first astronaut, a woman, went to the International Space Station in 2008;
• Si Ri Pak was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at 30, the youngest golfer to be chosen;
• Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-na became one of Time magazine’s “World’s most influential people” in 2010.

The paradoxes contained in attitudes and traditions surrounding Korean women’s place in society are puzzling to outside observers and often to the women and men who live with them. I began my research resolved to understand these puzzles and to learn how Korean women do succeed in spite of all the barriers, obstacles and negative attitudes.

In the course of my research I interviewed over eighty successful Korean women managers. In addition to women managers, I interviewed a number of other people of different ages, gender and walks of life to shed light on the complex dynamics of gender roles and leadership in twenty-first-century Korea. Interviewees included educators and policymakers, male managers, husbands, students, and homemakers,

Many people see the emergence of women in roles of managers and leaders as a threat to the family and to traditional Confucian values. Family and status profoundly affect the lives of all Koreans, both women and men. Historically, one’s family and status were the major determinant of future possibilities for both men and women, and these still influence a person’s role in society. The importance of a strong family is deeply embedded in Korean society and for good reason. The family has served as a bulwark against difficult conditions throughout Korea’s long and complex history. Traditional family structures and gender roles now vie with rising economic and societal demands. Moving forward in the twenty-first century will require balancing women’s aspirations with these complex and deeply held values and concerns.

“Globalization” is a buzzword frequently used to indicate some of the major economic and social changes impacting Korea. It is a country that was once called the “Hermit Kingdom” because of its unwillingness to allow foreigners and foreign ideas to enter its borders. Now, global business, trade, and education intrude on all aspects of Korean life, including attitudes and behavior toward family, the nation and the rest of the world. These global influences and intrusions create a dynamic future that demands the best of all its citizens, both women and men. Tapping the resources of the nation’s women is essential to maintain Korea’s prominence on the global scene. The ability of talented people to assume leadership roles without prejudice of gender, race, or class is absolutely necessary to maintain a vibrant nation.

Korea’s current challenges include a stagnant economy, declining birthrate, an aging population, a decreasing labor force, the decades old north-south division of the country and charges of corruption and cronyism. All these issues combine with the lingering effects of a century of war, occupation and an accelerating global economy. Successful solutions to all these issues require innovative national policies and actions.

In the ancient Korean creation myth the tiger says:

I am the tiger of Shinshi, Warden of Three Thousand Li, Defender of Choson, Guardian of the Golden Thread. I represent the strength and cunning the Korea people have used to defend their homeland for more than three thousand years. I am the protector and steward of Korea’s long and ancient history. My teachings give this legacy to each new generation of people. I am the comforter who brings peace to the spirits of Korea’s ancestors and safeguards and protects the Golden Thread, that (thread) which ties and binds the Korean people together throughout time, a thread that must never be broken.³

Korean men and women can relearn together the lesson from this myth and with their talents and skills strengthen the golden thread that binds the people and the nation together. A strong golden thread will require the voices and leadership of women as well as men.

In this book I hope to shed light on the talented women who have become managers and leaders; to show the obstinate paucity of women in leadership and the startling waste of women’s talents; to affirm the value to be added by competent Korean women managers and suggest strategies for success. The findings from interviews, participant observation, literature, data search and analysis, and the relevant elements of ancient culture and beliefs are integrated to provide a picture of the lives of Korean women managers and would-be managers.

My purpose is to highlight the interactions between women, organizations, families, society, national culture, history, and the economy that together shape the drama of women’s lives. This scenario contributes to women’s subjugation as well as success and to their feelings of satisfaction or anger.

The chapters that follow explore patterns in the lives of successful women in the context of organizational culture, societal demands, and family. It is my hope that this analysis will benefit women in Korea and other countries to find clues that will aid them in their own journeys toward success, however they define success. Women’s talents, their voices in decision making and their leadership are necessary as women and men collaborate to build a vibrant society with healthy families, effective organizations, and a dynamic economy.

Figure 1.1   The Tiger of Shinshi

Notes

1  My focus is on women managers in South Korea. The word “Korea” will refer to South Korea. When the text refers to North Korea, it will be designated as North Korea. North Korea is a continuing presence in South Korea with political wrangling, nuclear threats and sword rattling as well as the more than 18,000 resettled North Korean refugees in South Korea. While 80 percent of these resettled refugees are women, little is known about North Korea or its women managers. Although I did interview three North Korean women resettled in Korea, the topic lies outside the scope of this book.

2  Excellent resources on the changing roles of women in Korea, but not women in management are: Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean Nationalism edited by Elaine H. Kim and Chungmoo Choi; Under Construction: The Gendering of Modernity, Class and Consumption in the Republic of Korea, edited by Laurel Kendall; and Measured Excess: Status, Gender and Consumer Nationalism in South Korea, Laura C. Nelson.

3  Korea in the Eye of the Tiger, Korean History Project, www.koreanhistoryproject.org, Bill Caraway, 2006. White tigers disappeared, but are rumored to have returned to North Korea from Siberia.

2 The World of Korean Women Today

Korean women are articulate about the world in which they live. Their words present a vivid picture of the wide range of women’s experiences and attitudes in Korea.

Sitting in a fashionable restaurant at lunch, Kay, a sharply dressed woman in her 30s tells me:

I love my work. Starting my own graphic design company after working in a large company was a thrill, but my mother-in-law is constantly nagging me to stay at home and take care of my husband and son. I often wish I had never married.

A successful gallery owner, June, in her 40s says:

Sometimes I try to appear less assertive in my contacts with Korean men, but it doesn’t last long because I get frustrated and speak out. Korean men are spoiled. Their mothers have pampered them. They have never learned street smarts and so they want their wives to take care of them. Successful women are a threat to their status quo.

Contrasting the stories of these two women with those of a growing number of single, professional women who have been labeled “Gold Miss,” we find vivid contrasts and some similarities. The Gold Miss has been defined in Korea as a single woman, mid-30s or over, who has her own job and car, earns $40,000 to $100,000 per year, and may possess a house of her own.¹ Their attitudes and spending habits vary, but they all are also aware of social norms critical of such freedoms.²

Koh Bong-hwa, a publicist turned businesswoman, and labeled “Gold Miss” by the press, says:

What matters to me is my own happiness, not how others look at my life, relationship and the amount of money that I earn. As an ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The world of Korean women today
• 3. The many faces of Korean women managers
• 4. History as precursor
• 5. Women managers’ stories
• 6. Growing up Korean: girls’ lives in Korea
• 7. Corporate culture in Korea
• 8. Korean women and Korean organizational culture
• 9. Success for Korean women managers
• 10. Envisioning Korea’s future: renewing the golden thread
• Select bibliography
• Index