Women’s Representativeness in Government and Politics, Korea

Synonyms

Gender equality in the public sector; Women and politics; Women’s representation in government

Definition

Women’s representativeness in government and politics refers to the presence of more women in the civil service and political arena, as well as increasing women’s access to leadership positions in the public sector.

Introduction

Over the past few decades, South Korea has rapidly developed from being an agricultural country toward industrialization and economic modernization alongside Asian countries. In the process, it became the 11th largest trading country in the world by the mid-1990s (Hermanns 2006). Despite dramatic progress in economic development, the representation of more women in the civil service and political arena has not increased correspondingly. In other words, compared to men, women have been relatively disadvantaged in opportunities to enter areas of governance, including government agencies, legislative bodies, and political parties, as well as in roles...