Women in STEM in South Korea
The Republic of Korea has one of the most coordinated national women-in-STEM ecosystems in Asia, anchored by WISET — the Center for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology — and supported by some of the most generous graduate-research funding per capita anywhere in the world.
The participation pattern
Korea's situation is a textbook case of strong educational pipeline meeting structural workforce barriers. Women earn approximately half of all undergraduate STEM degrees, but employment representation drops significantly, and the gap widens further at senior research and corporate-R&D levels. The GEKS scorecard for Korea highlighted exactly this disjunction: education-pillar scores well above OECD average, decision-making and senior-leadership scores well below. The national policy response — institutionalized in WISET in 2011 — has explicitly targeted the labour-market and retention end of the pipeline rather than the recruitment end.
Major national programs
WISET — Center for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology
WISET is the central coordinating institution for women-in-STEM policy in Korea. It runs mentorship platforms, administers re-entry programs for women scientists who left research, manages databases of women-in-STEM career trajectories, and serves as the policy implementation arm of the Korean government's gender-equity strategy in science. Most other national-level programs operate through WISET or in coordination with it.
Korean Brain Pool Plus & Women Re-entry Programs
Funding instruments specifically targeting women researchers returning to active R&D after career breaks. Modeled in part on India's KIRAN and the UK's Daphne Jackson Trust fellowships. Includes salary support, project funding, and reintegration mentoring.
WATCH21 — Women in Academia Toward Change for the 21st Century
A consortium initiative across major Korean research universities focused on women in academic leadership pipelines. Provides tenure-track mentorship, conference travel funding, and structured peer networking for women at the postdoc-to-assistant-professor transition.
K-Girls' Day
A national-scale outreach day connecting elementary and middle-school girls to women scientists and engineers in their workplaces. Coordinated by WISET with participating institutions opening labs and R&D centers for one-day visits.
Top universities
KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and POSTECH operate active Women in STEM chapters and have introduced specific recruitment and retention initiatives for women faculty in physics, engineering, and computer science. Seoul National University runs the SNU Women in Science network. Ewha Womans University — one of the oldest women's universities in Asia — runs significant STEM programs across the natural sciences, engineering, and computer science. Yonsei and Sungkyunkwan also maintain visible women-in-STEM programs and host chapters of international networks like IEEE WIE.
Scholarships open to women in STEM
- National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Women Scientist Career Development Grant — multi-year research funding for early-career women.
- WISET Mentor-Mentee Program scholarships — modest stipends paired with senior researcher mentorship.
- L'Oréal–UNESCO Korea For Women in Science — annual research awards for women scientists in Korea.
- Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) — open to international students including women pursuing STEM degrees at Korean universities.
- Samsung Women in STEM Scholarship — corporate-funded scholarships for women undergraduates in engineering and computer science.
Notable women in STEM from South Korea
Hyunjoo Jenny Lee
Bio-electronics researcher at KAIST, working at the intersection of neural engineering, biomedical sensors, and miniaturized medical devices. Her work on implantable neural interfaces has been widely cited in the engineering of next-generation neuroprosthetics.
Younan Xia (Korean-born, U.S.-based)
Chemist and materials scientist at Georgia Tech, internationally recognized for work on nanomaterials with applications in catalysis, drug delivery, and biomedical imaging. A frequent example in Korean STEM education of the international research career path.