Gender Equality in Knowledge Societies: Republic of Korea Assessment
The Republic of Korea offers a distinctive case study for gender equity in knowledge societies. South Korea achieved rapid growth in its S&T capacity over the second half of the twentieth century, becoming a major producer of scientific research and technology export. It has also significantly increased women's participation in higher education generally. Yet the GEKS benchmarking exercise reveals persistent and in some respects widening gaps between women's participation in education and their representation in research careers and S&T leadership.
The Korea National Scorecard documents patterns across the full GEKS framework: enrollment by gender in STEM fields at the tertiary level, faculty representation across university ranks, women's participation in government and industrial R&D institutions, and the presence of women in the senior leadership of science policy bodies. The data reveal a well-documented "grade cascade" — women's representation declining sharply at each successive level of seniority.
The scorecard also examines the cultural and institutional factors specific to the Korean context: the role of extended working hours norms in research institutions, the relative rigidity of academic career tracks, and the design of government programs intended to increase women's participation in science careers. It compares Korea's performance against other high-income East Asian economies and against the OECD average.
For policymakers in Korea and comparable economies, the scorecard provides both a diagnostic and a baseline for measuring the impact of gender equity interventions over time.