Questions/Answers

In 2001, women accounted for 37.1% of public officials employed by the government of South Korea. However, the percentage of women dropped significantly at more senior levels, with only 2.1% of managerial positions (Grade 4 or higher) filled by women. Therefore, in 2002 the Ministry of Personnel Management established the Guidelines for Management of Women Public Officials (currently, Guidelines for Balanced Personnel Management) to expand the entry of women into public service and to support their growth, and developed the Women’s Promotion Safety Net to ensure inclusive and proactive personnel management of women public officials. When narrowly defined, the safety net aims to ensure that women public officials are not wrongly eliminated from promotions and are promoted in proportional numbers. When more broadly defined, the safety net aims at comprehensive management efforts to achieve equality in promotion opportunities. This includes the appointment of women to key positions, such as planning, budgeting, personnel management and auditing, prohibition of discrimination to women pertaining to childbirth or child care, expansion of educational training opportunities to develop capability, and improvement of working conditions to ensure a work-life balance. As a result of these efforts, women accounted for 49.8% of all public officials and 13.5% of managers in 2016. The percentage of women senior civil servants (Grade 1 to 2, Director General or higher) also increased from 2.7% in 2006 to 5.8% in 2016. The percentage of women assigned to key departments increased from 6.6% in 2001 to 27.6% in 2016, and the promotion period for women public officials became shorter than that of their male counterparts. Women are exhibiting remarkable performance in diverse work areas. This can be confirmed by the rise in the percentage of female public officials who received awards for outstanding performance (from 4.6% in 2002 to 16.5% in 2017).

1) The immediate objective of the initiative is to ensure that qualified women do not face disadvantages in promotions by preventing any improper use of individual discretion by the personnel manager. For instance, if five promotions are due, should there be a woman among the top five candidates, the initiative ensures that at least one female candidate gets promoted from the register of candidates for promotion. 2) The initiative provides opportunities for career and capacity development for women by employing the number of women that corresponds to the female percentage in each grade in key departments. In particular, it provides women with more diverse and critical work experience, preventing disproportionate assignment of women to positions with repetitive work, work related to civil affairs, or support tasks, as well as excessively long service in a single position. This opportunity has been accompanied by efforts to improve working conditions, such as by reducing working hours and preventing career disruption due to childbirth or child care. 3) The initiative aims to increase the number of women managers in government and increase women's representation by achieving gender equality in promotion opportunities, and, ultimately, to promote a gender-responsive public service.

In order to include more women in the promotion safety net, the Women’s Promotion Safety Net encourages not only promotion but also a change in the overall personnel management system, including management of placement, career development, and education and training, which could have an impact on promotions. To put the initiative into practice, the central government collects gender-based statistics pertaining to the current status of appointments of women, and examines whether women public officials are at a disadvantage in terms of promotion and positions and whether work-related challenges exist. The results can be reflected in personnel management, thereby encouraging the official in charge to show greater interest and efforts in securing gender diversity within an organization. As a result, the number of women public officials in managerial positions has continuously increased (for Grade 4 or higher, from 2.1% in 2001 to 13.5% in 2016) and the number of women public officials in key departments or placements has increased (from 6.6% in 2001 to 27.6% in 2016). This shows that participation by women in policy making and execution has grown significantly and that a substantial environment for women contributions to policies is being created.

The Women’s Promotion Safety Net is related to the SDGs regarding gender equality and women empowerment. 1) The following efforts, made by the central and local governments, have contributed to gender equality and female participation in decision-making: -Including at least one woman in committees for personnel affairs, including promotion and performance assessment -Introducing preferred placement of female officials for career development -Increasing the number of women in key positions for future promotion -Considering female employee percentages for training in South Korea and abroad -Providing part-time employment to reduce women’s career disruption -Promoting a culture that values work-life balance by reducing working hours for pregnant women, recognizing child-care leave as a career, and encouraging men to utilize child-care leave 2) These efforts have had a positive influence in the private sector, spreading gender equality and female empowerment across society: -Introducing regulations for a minimum percentage of female workers and managers -Naming companies that violate standards for female employment, and imposing penalties on public project bids -Giving tax benefits to companies hiring women whose careers are interrupted by childbirth or child care -Encouraging child-care leave for men by increasing paid leave benefits

The government of South Korea recognized the low number of women public officials in managerial positions as a problem and has made concerted efforts to expand the appointment of women managers. In the past, “increasing women’s economic participation and gender equality” was proposed as a national agenda item by the government, and the Women Talent Academy was established to foster one hundred thousand women human resources. The new administration, led by President Moon Jae-in, also made the realization of a society with substantial gender equality one of its 100 national agenda items and re-emphasized the government’s commitment to nurture women managers to enhance women’s representation in the public sector. While highlighting that “gender equality is an essential element for sustainable national development,” President Moon said that “starting with the public sector, efforts will be made to increase women’s representation to help women realize their dreams in the workforce.” He also said that “diverse and concrete measures will be developed to provide institutional support for a work-life balance.” In particular, the Women’s Promotion Safety Net can be regarded as a critical instrument for effective implementation of a government-wide policy to enhance women‘s representation in the public sector.

The Women’s Promotion Safety Net has had the following positive effects: -The percentage of female managers increased (from 2.1% in 2001 to 13.5% in 2016) -The number of female senior civil servants increased (from 2.7% in 2006 to 5.8% in 2016) -Women from the private sector, such as corporate board members, professors, lawyers, and patent attorneys, have been employed in public service through open recruitment -There are more women in key departments of the central government (from 6.6% in 2001 to 27.6% in 2016) -The average promotion period for women is now shorter than for their male counterparts -The participation of women in study abroad programs has increased (from 10.0% in 2002 to 31.5% in 2016) -The number of women entering public service with the recognition that public service is without gender discrimination in promotion and assignment has increased (women accounted for 50.7% of those who passed the public service examination in 2016, up from 40.1% in 2003) By accelerating women’s entry into managerial positions and increasing the gender responsiveness of policies, the initiative has had a positive influence on not only women in public service but also female citizens overall.

The Women’s Promotion Safety Net is innovative for the following reasons: 1) Unlike mandatory quotas that trigger reverse discrimination, this initiative resolves the issue of reverse discrimination. This is because female candidates with skills and qualifications are given fair and just promotion opportunities by preventing misuse of individual discretion by the personnel managers. 2) Women are required to fulfill certain conditions for promotions, such as work performance and career evaluation, in addition to other demonstrations of necessary skills. Therefore, this initiative does not impair South Korea’s merit-based civil service system. 3) The initiative is a comprehensive safety net that supports women in not only promotions but also overall personnel management, including career development, position management and the personnel management system. Therefore, the initiative aims to go beyond quantitative increases of women to qualitatively improving conditions for women to ensure their substantial influence within the organization. 4) The initiative promotes changes in organizational cultures and members’ awareness through the creation of an environment for work-life balance by reducing long working hours, expanding flexible work programs, and addressing career disruption due to child care leave.

There may be similar practices in developed countries but this initiative may be viewed as original in that it takes into account South Korea’s unique rank-based personnel management system. 1) Under the rank-based system, the promotion of public officials is largely at the discretion of the individual personnel manager. The Women’s Promotion Safety Net prevents wrongful elimination of legitimate women candidates and encourages more active policies for women. 2) The safety net is an inclusive initiative that provides opportunities for women not merely in terms of promotions but also management of placement, education and training, and working conditions such as work and life balance, which can have an important impact on promotion. 3) In South Korea, the central government was the first to introduce the initiative. Afterwards, local governments adopted similar practices and efforts for the promotion of women public officials spread nationwide.

The Women’s Promotion Safety Net does not require a special budget. The most important factor is the determination of the individual personnel manager to achieve balanced personnel management along with the manager’s consistent interest. Personnel management principles and the administrative capacity of each ministry to inspect and assess management performance are also needed to support the initiative. The Ministry of Personnel Management utilized the following legal and administrative resources: 1) Established the Balanced Personnel Division at the Civil Service Commission (currently, Ministry of Personnel Management) in 2004 and systematically implemented related services 2) Revised the State Public Officials Act, thus providing grounds for active implementation of policies to achieve substantial gender equality, and enacted the Guidelines for Management of Women Public Officials(currently, Guidelines for Balanced Personnel Management) for the principle of assignment without gender discrimination, recognition of work experience during child care leave, and assignment of women to key departments 3) Regularly inspected the status of implementation through the Gender Equality Committee meeting composed of the government, civil society, and experts from the private sector 4) Conducted assessment of government performance, personnel auditing, and provision of various incentives

Yes

In addition to central administrative institutions, the Women’s Promotion Safety Net has been expanded to cover the entire public sector, including local governments, public institutions, state universities, the military and the police. In South Korea, the central government was the first to adopt the initiative. All local governments, and then public institutions, followed suit and adopted similar practices. In particular, the Ministry of National Defense, where women public officials have traditionally been a minority, repealed the regulation on the prohibition of women military officers to help women soldiers become able commanders. As for the Coast Guard, efforts are being made to provide opportunities for women to work as on-site commanders and to expand the scope of work for women intermediary managers to help them grow into key leaders within the organization. As the initiative does not require a special budget, it can be applied effectively in developing countries where there is insufficient utilization of women human resources. South Korea is willing to provide the policy software to spread the practice to developing countries and underdeveloped countries.

The efforts of the government of South Korea to enhance gender diversity in the public service have has continued over the past twenty years, but South Korea remains at the lowest rank of the OECD Glass Ceiling Index. The Women’s Promotion Safety Net enables each ministry of the central government to take part in resolving this issue and to undertake primary action to accelerate the promotion of women managers. Based on legal and institutional changes and administrative capacity, substantial changes in personnel practices, including promotion, assignment, and educational training, are taking place. By promoting gender equality in promotion opportunities, this policy supports capacity development for women and improves their quality of life by increasing work satisfaction. It also encourages continuous economic participation by women. Furthermore, the policy is sustainable not only because it ultimately contributes to building an integrated society by creating a culture of public service that embraces gender diversity but also because it promotes a steady shift upwards from South Korea’s current status as the lowest-ranked country in the glass ceiling index by continuously spreading the culture to the private sector.

The government of South Korea aims to increase the number of women public officials of Grade 4 or higher over the next five years to achieve a target of 21% by 2022. Also, by adopting a new assignment target for women senior civil servants (Grade 1 to 2, Director General or higher), the government will increase the percentage from 5.8% in 2016 to 10% by 2022. This is a very ambitious target given South Korea’s long-held socio-cultural traditions centered on men. In order to achieve this target promptly, continuous and active use of the Women’s Promotion Safety Net is necessary. The plan will be implemented on a continual basis based on the following activities: 1) Quarterly assessment of the management status of women public officials at each ministry in terms of the percentage of women managers, and percentage of assignments to key positions 2) Enhanced personnel auditing and assessment of institutions with poor performance and provision of incentives for institutions with outstanding performance 3) Inclusion into the Administrative Management Capacity Evaluation (one of three areas of government performance assessment for central administrative institutions), and enhanced assessment by including the percentage of women managers and assignment of women to key positions in the Personnel Management Innovation Diagnosis Index With these efforts, the government of South Korea will not only make improvements statistically, such as by increasing the percentage of women managers, but also promote proactive voluntary efforts by each institution to expand and nurture women managers.

Yes

1) In order to enhance the administrative capacity of management, each ministry of the central government conducts an individual assessment of organizational management, personnel management, and information provision. In the area of personnel management, quantitative evaluations are made on “improving women representation and supporting a work-life balance.” 2) The plan to increase appointment of women managers in the public service to realize a society of gender equality is included as one of the 100 national agenda items. The evaluation team, comprised of experts from the private sector and policy stakeholders, makes a quantitative and qualitative assessment for each evaluation item. 3) By including relevant indicators such as the “Assignment Target of Women Managers of Grade 4 or Higher,” “Number of Women in Key Positions,” and “Level of Effort to Secure Diversity” in the Personnel Management Innovation Diagnosis Index, sustainable efforts on the part of each institution are encouraged. 4) To improve working conditions for women, each ministry conducts a work satisfaction survey targeting women public officials at least once every two years. After evaluating the challenges women public officials face in terms of promotion, assignment, and work or problems at workplace, each ministry prepares an improvement plan.

1) Quantitatively, the number of female managers has increased gradually but steadily: -Grade 5 or higher: 4.8% (2001) to 19.4% (2016) -Grade 4 or higher: 2.1% (2001) to 13.5% (2016) -Senior civil servants(Grade 1 to 2, Director General or higher): 2.7% (2006) to 5.8% (2016) 2) Qualitatively, the percentage of women in key departments jumped to 27.6% in 2016, and female participation in overseas training rose to 31.5% in 2016. Promotion periods for women are now shorter than for men. Efforts have been made to create a culture embracing work-life balance by encouraging child-care leave as career, flexibility in working hours, shorter hours for pregnant women, reduced working hours, and child-care leave for men. Outcomes in the central government have led to increased female participation in local governments and the public sector overall. Since 2002 the percentage of female managers in local governments has more than doubled and the percentage of women in key departments has risen three-fold. The number of female managers of public institutions, principals, vice principals, military officers, and police officers is increasing. This trend has spread to the private sector, where the number of female executives has increased.

1) Quantitative evaluation indicators that can be quantified among Government Performance Evaluation and Performance Indicators of National Agenda Items are as follows. In order to enhance women's representation in the public service, assessments have been conducted by giving points based on annual performance targets (pre-established achievement percentage of the target ratio) for female managers and senior civil servants. 2) To complement the limitations of quantitative evaluation, the following qualitative evaluation indicators are used. ① Each agency is evaluated based on the submitted supporting documentation on, for instance, how faithfully the plan to increase women managers was established, to what extent the objective of the target was achieved, and whether conditional changes were responded to in a timely and appropriate manner. ② Each agency is also comprehensively evaluated based on submitted documentation on policy outcomes that cannot be measured with a simple quantitative indicator (e.g. contribution to resolving public inconvenience and improving convenience, execution of measures to improve issues commented on by the National Assembly, etc.) ③ Each agency is required to collect opinions related to the disadvantages faced by women public officials in both personnel affairs and work, and submit outcomes after taking appropriate improvement measures.

In order to increase the number of women managers appointed, the government collected opinions from stakeholders including women’s organizations, private sector experts, and women public officials. In the beginning, women’s organizations argued for the introduction of policies that could generate more direct effects, such as quotas. However, as such measures can trigger reverse discrimination against men and violate the performance-based principle, a more cautious and rational measure was needed. Therefore, the Gender Equality Committee, comprised of women’s civil society groups, experts from the private sector and government officials, was established and key issues were reviewed and adjusted. In particular, given that South Korea remains at the bottom rank in the OECD on indicators related to women, it was confirmed that substantial gender equality was a key agenda item to enhance national competitiveness and achieve a sustainable integrated society. It was also agreed that the public sector needs to take the lead in resolving this problem. Furthermore, as the Women’s Promotion Safety Net provides fair and just opportunities for talented women with qualifications for promotion, there is no reverse discrimination against men. Instead, it was agreed that such measures were an appropriate way to achieve substantial gender equality.

The government of South Korea understood that improving gender diversity in the public service required going beyond quantitative efforts. Qualitative improvements were needed to substantially help women achieve success in the workforce. South Korea took a qualitative approach in adopting the Women’s Promotion Safety Net to overcome potential issues such as reverse discrimination arising from quotas that aim to merely increase the number of women in the civil service. The initiative was a proactive response to preventing promotion discrimination pertaining to pregnancy, childbirth or child care. It is evident that the initiative is an effective policy instrument that substantially enables proactive participation by women public officials. Moving forward, the Ministry of Personnel Management is reviewing a plan to give promotion opportunities to women public officials that is equivalent to the percentage of women in the promotion candidate pool, as well as a plan to consider the gender percentage of members when forming promotion evaluation committees to encourage greater consideration of women candidates. The government of South Korea looks forward to improving gender awareness and sensitivity within the society by raising the status of women in society overall and improving its personnel management system.